UC-NRLF 


^  KEPUBLICAN 


CAMPAIGN  TEXT  BOOK, 


FOR 


1878 


TABLE    OF     CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER     I.— Greenbacks. 

CHAPTER    IL— Labor. 

CHAPTER  III.— Southern  War  Claims. 

CHAPTER  IV.— The  Democratic  Revolution. 

CHAPTER    v.— Democratic  Election  Frauds. 

CHAPTER  VL— Jeff.  Davis'  Latest  Speech. 


l!^,.^^^*^  /-^aX  ."^^ 


REPUBLICAN  CONGRESSIONAL  COMITTEE. 

WASKTNGTON.,    D.    C. 

1878. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  i 

The    Greenback    Question— Showing    that  | 
the  Republican    Party  always   stood    by  i 
the  Republican  Greenback,  and  that  the  ! 
Democratic    Party    always     hated    and 
fought  it. 

PART  I— Page  1— History  of  the  Green- 
back—The Republicax  Party  its  Father, 
Friend  and  Guardian— The  Legal-Tender 
Act  of  1862— Reason  for  its  Being- 
Chase's  Letter— Democratic  Opposition 
AND  Votes. 

PART  II— Page  1— The  Democrats  Directly 
Responsible  for  Contraction— The  Act  of 
1866— Analysis  op  the  Votes— Only  one 
Democrat  in  the  two  Houses  Votes  against 
Contraction— The  Act  of  February  4, 
1868,  Suspending  Contraction— Only  Twen- 
ty-four Democrats  Vote  for  That. 

PART  ill-Page  2— The  Public  Credit  Act- 
Extraordinary  Vote  by  which  it  Passed 
—Not  One  Democrat  for  It— What  the 
Republican  Double  Pledge  Meant— Demo- 
cratic Senator  Hamilton's  Proposed  Con- 
stitutional Amendment  to  Kill  the  Re- 
publican Greenback. 

PART  IV— Page  3— Pretended  Democratic 
Love  for  the  Greenback— How  they  Hur- 
rahed for  it  but  kept  it  '*  IN  the  Woods  "' 
—A  Smart  Trick  Exposed— Southard's 
"Blind"  Resolution  making  Greenbacks 
Receivable  for  Customs  Duties— A  Bill 
from  the  Republican  Senate  to  that  Ef- 
fect Beaten  by  the  House  Democrats— 
Another  Republican  Proposition  (Hub- 
bell's)  to  Receive  Greenbacks  for  Cus- 
toms AND  Exchange  them  for  Coin  and 
Construing  the  Resumption  Act  so  that 
no  Greenbacks  shall  be  Retired,  only 
Receives  Six  Democratic  Votes— The 
Votes  in  Detail— Fort's  Act  Prohibiting 
Further  Retirement,  etc.,  op  the  Green- 
back. 

PART  V— Page  4— Democratic  Hatred  Pur- 
sues THE  Greenback  into  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  —  Democratic 
Judges  Declare  it  an  Unconstitutional  I 
Bastard— Republican  Judges  Declare  its 
Constitutional  Legitimacy. 

PART  VI— Page  5— Speeches  op  Democratic 
Leaders  in  Congress  Declaring  the  Re- 


publican  Greenback  Unconstitutional— 
Vallandigham  —  Powell  —  Hendrick  B. 
Wright  —  Pendleton  —  Cowan— Bayard— 

Pearce— Saulsbury. 


CHAPTER  II. 


The   Labor   Question. 

PART  I— Page  6— The  Republican  the  True 
Labor  Party— Democratic  Efforts  to  De- 
grade and  Brutalize  Labor— How  the 
Democratic  Party  Robs  Productive  La- 
bor OVER  $125,000,000  every  Year— Their 
Cheese-paring  Policy— Democratic  Cru- 
sade AGAINST  Laborers  and  Scrubbing 
Women  at  Washington. 

PART  II— Page  6— Condition  and  Wages  op 
the  Laborer  Abroad  Compared  with  at 
Home— Discontent  in  North  Germany- 
Wages  Fall  while  Food  Rises  in  Rhenish 
Prussia— Low  Prices  of  Skilled  Labor  in 
France— Long  Hours  and  Low  Pay  in 
England—"  Steadily  Declining  "  Wages 
IN  Scotland,  and  High  Cost  of  Living — 
Wages  Still  Lower  in  Ireland— Wages 
IN  Parts  of  Wales  Merely  Nominal— The 
Reason  why  the  American  Laborer  is 
Better  Off- How  to  Avoid  "Harder 
Times  "  and  to  get  "  Better  Times  " 
Here— The  Democratic  Tariff  Bill- 
How  IT  Injured  Business  Interests  and 
the  Workingman— The  Democratic  vote 
to  Consider  It— The  Panic  it  Occa- 
sioned—The Republican  Fight  against 
AND  Defeat  op  the  Bill— Analysis  op  the 
Vote— Another  Vote  Showing  the  An- 
tagonism OP  Democracy  to  Labor. 

PART  III— Page  10— Still  Another  Vote 
Showing  Democratic  Opposition  to  the 
Encouragement  of  Home  Industries— The 
Republican  Creed,  Humanitarian— Demo- 
cratic Scoffs  at  the  "  Mudsills  "—The 
Free  School  System— Democratic  Nos- 
trums FOR  Present  Ills— The  Workingmen 
Denounce  Them— Republican  Efforts  to 
Solve  the  Labor  Problem. 

PART  IV— Page  11/-The  Republican  Home- 
stead Act— How  the  Democracy  Always 
Opposed  such  a  Policy— The  Votes  in  both 
Houses  by  which  that  Act  was  Created— 


:•>,  ^ 


<^ 


IV 


EXTXKDIKO     TBI    HOMESTEAD     ACT— DXMO- 

CBiTio  Opposition  and  Votes. 


CHAPTER   III. 

Southern  Claims. 

PART  I-Page  12-$300.000.000  op  Southern 
Public  and  Private  Claims  for  Cotton, 
War  Material,  Captured  and  Abandoned 
Property,  etc. 

PART  II— Page  12— Rebel  Claims  Demanded 
as  a  Matter  op  "  Justice  and  Right  "— 
All  Property  Destroyed  by  Both  Armies 
Must  be  Paid  For— Rebel  Soldiers  or 
their  Heirs  Must  "  be  Paid  in  Bonds  or 
Public  Lands  for  Lost  Time,  Limbs  and 
Lives  I " 

PART  III— Page  13-A  "Specimen  Brick" 
OF  Southern  Claims— Its  Bogus  Charac- 
ter AND  Wonderful  Growth. 

PART  IV-Page  14-e400,000.000  More-Com- 
pensation Demanded  for  Emancipated 
Slaves. 

PART  V— Page  14— A  Brief  Review  of  some 
OP  the  Rebel  Claims— Direct  Tax— Cot- 
ton Tax— Special  Relief— Destruction  of 
Property— Compensation  for  Slaves- 
Rebel  Mail  Contractors,  etc— They  al- 
ready Reach  the  Enormous  Amount  of 
Three  Thousand  Millions  of  Dollars— 
Where  will  it  End? 

PART  VI— Page  15— Claim  of  the  College 
OP  *'  William  and  Mary  "—One  of  the  En- 
tering Wedges. 

PART  VII— Page  16— Fraudulent  Claims  of 
Southern  Mail  Contractors— How  the 
Democrats  Strove  to  Steal  Sl.000,000— 
How  THE  House  Republicans  Stopped  the 
Steal— A  Specimen  of  Southern  "  Mo- 
rality "—The  Vote  that  '*  Scotched  "  the 
Fraudulent  Claims. 

PART  VIII— Page  18— Subsequent  Assault 
ON  the  Senate  by  the  Southern  Mail  Con- 
tractors—But they  are  Finally  Discom- 
fited—Propositions  AND  Votes. 

PART  IX— Page  19— Conger's  Proposed  Con- 
stitutional Amendment  Prohibiting  Pay- 
ment OF  Rebel  Claims— Vote  Thereon— 
The  Democratic  Party  under  Southern 
Domination  would  Pay  Them,  as  the  Rec- 
ord Shows. 

PART  X— Page  20— Tilden's  Pretended 
Aversion  to  Rebel  Claims— His  Duplic- 
ity—He WOULD  NOT  Pay  "Disloyal" 
Claims,  but  holds  that  "We  are  all 
Loyal  Now"— Ex-Confederate  Cabell's 
Ingenious  Beport  Proving  that  Pardoned 
OB    Amnestied    Rebels   were   "  Always 


Loyal  "—Promised 
Fall  Elections." 


Action   "  After  thb 


CHAPTER  IV. 

First  Steps  of  tlie  Revolution. 

PART  I— Page  22— Introduction  to  the  Evi- 
dences of  Tilden's  Revolutionary  In- 
tentions —  Democratic  Revolutionary 
Proceedings  thus  far— Their  remark- 
able growth— How  A  Minority  CAN  Over- 
throw A  Government- Forcible  illus- 
trations   OP    THE    peril    that    PoTTER    IS 

Precipitating— Plausible    pretexts    for 
Revolution  always  ready. 

PART  II— Page  2->— The  first  Potter  Let- 
ter DECLARING  THE  ELECTION  SHOULD  BE 
THROWN  INTO  THE  HoUSE— ThAT  THE  HoUSE 
IS  THE  SOLE  JUDGE  OF  PRESIDENTIAL  ELEC- 
TIONS, CAN  ACT  ALONE  ON  ITS  OWN  INFOR- 
MATION, AND  IS  SUPREME— TiLDEN  AS  COM- 
MANDER in-Chief. 

PART  III— Page  27— The  Electoral  Com- 
mission Act— Votes  proving  it  a  Demo- 
cratic Measure— The  Electoral  Count— 
The  vote  as  announced  —  Subsequent 
Revolutionary  Proceedings  of  the  House 
before  the  adjournment  op  the  forty- 
FOURTH  Congress— Field's  Quo  Warranto 
bill  and  vote  on  it. 

PART  IV— Page  29— Report  op  House  Com- 
mittee affirming  the  right  OF  THE  HOUSB 
TO  GO   BEHIND  RETURNS,  AND  ITS  AUTHORITY 

OVER    THE    Count— Vote    on    Burchard's 
Amendmemt  to  it. 

PART  V— Page  30— Morrison's  Letter  on 
Tilden's  "pluck"— Tilden  thought  he  had 
"packed"  the  Electoral  Commission— 
Hendricks  urges  the  House  to  declare 
Tilden  duly  elected— Votes  by  which 
THE  House  makes  that  Revolutionary 
Declaration  —  Subsequent  Democratic 
Protest  declaring  Hayes  "a  usurper"— 
Tilden  officially  notified  of  his  Elec- 
tion—Did HE  TAKE  THE  OATH  ?— REVOLU- 
TIONARY Talk— Hewitt's  enforced  resig- 
nation and  singular  apology- Judge 
Black's  threat. 

PART  Vl-Page  33-The  Manhattan  Club 
Reception— Orders  which  the  Democratic 
House  is  now  enforcing— Treasonable 
Utterances  of  Tilden,  Dorsheimer,  Dud- 
ley Field  and  others— One  Thousand  Dis- 
tinguished Democrats  from  twelve  dip. 
ferent  States  applaud  the  Treason  I 

PART  VII— Page  36— Maryland  selected 
to  make  the  first  movement  in  the  Plot 
—The  Montgomery  IBlair  Quo  Warranto 
Resolution. 

PART  Vlll-Page  37 The  Potter  Iniquity 

founded  upon  the  Maryland  initiative — 


Randall's  ruling  on  Question  of  Privi- 
lege—The REVOLUTIONARY  INTENT  ADMIT- 
TED—ThE  VOTES  IN   FULL. 

PART  IX— Page  39— The  Casey  Young  Reso- 
lution—The Democratic  Caucus  Refuse 
TO  Declare  that  *'  It  is  not  Intended  to 
Disturb  Hayes  "  —  Republican  Caucus 
Warning  the  People  that  the  Potter 
Movement  is  Revolutionary— Republican 
National  Congressional  Committee's  Ad- 
dress to  the  People  Declaring  that  the 
Potter  Plot  is  to  Suborn  Witnesses,  De- 
clare Hayes  an  Usurper,  and  Put  Him  Out. 

PART  X— Page  40-  Alexander  H.  Stephens' 
Letter  of  Warning  to  Potter— The  Til- 
den-Potter  Ruffians  Hoot  Him  Down  in 
THE  House— Interview  with  Stephens— 
"Snug,  THE  Joiner"— "The  People  Want 
Peace  and  Quiet." 

PART  Xl^Page  41— Carter  Harrison's 
"  Question  of  Privilege  "—Resolution 
Extending  Investigation  and  Declaring 
that  the  house  hasno  revolutionary  pur- 
POSE Withdrawn  under  Democratic  Pres- 
sure AFTER  A  Vote  which  Showed  no  Quo- 
rum—Ben Wilson's  Resolution  to  Extend 
the  Investigation  if  the  Democratic  Com- 
mittee Believes  in  It— Wilson's  Admis- 
sion AS  TO  **  Intent  "  of  the  Potter  In- 
quiry—National Democratic  Committee 
Approves  the  Potter  Movement  and  Re- 
puses  TO  Disavow  the  Treasonable  In- 
tent —A  N  Influential  Democrat  Admits 
THE  Intent  if  they  can  only  make  a  CasK' 

PART  XII— Page  43— Potter's  Open  Letter 
TO  THE  Reverend  "  Blank  "—His  Fatal 
Admissions  Touching  the  Motives  at  the 
Bottom  of  the  Inquiry- The  Revolution- 
ary Intent  Laid  Bare  by  his  Own  Words- 
No  Jesuitism  can  Cover  Them. 

PART  XIII— Page  45— Alb x.  H.  Stephens' 
Second  Letter  to  Potter— Successfully 
Defends  the  Hale  Amendment,  and  Shows 
up  the  Potter  Movement  in  its  True 
Colors— "Most  Unwise,  Most  Unfortu- 
nate, AND  Most  Mischievous  "— "  A  Con- 
temptible Farce  or  a  Horrible  Trag- 
edy "—Potter's   Jesuitical   Whisperings 

.  as  "Delusive  AND  Guileful  "as  those  of 
"The  Great  Arch-fiend." 

PART  XIV— Page  46— The  Burchard  Reso- 
lution—The Democrats  "  Forced  against 
their  Will"  to  Declare  an  Opinion  on 
Hayes'  Title— They  are  Taken  by  Sur- 
prise, AND  ARE  Panic-Stricken  and 
Routed— A  Graphic  Description  of  the 
Scene— The  Vote  by  which  a  Revolution- 
ary House,  Driven  by  Sudden  Fear,  Con- 
demns ITS  Own  Treasonable  Purposes. 

PART  XV— Page  48— The  Next  Democratic 

Move— Throwing    Sawdust    in   Peoples, 


Eyes— Vote  on  House  Judiciary  Committee 
Report  and  Resolution  a  Mere  Piece  of 
Clap -Trap  for  the  Fall  Elections. 

PART  XVI— Page  48— The  Work  of  the 
Potter  Committee— Impeachment  op  Hayes 
AND  Wheeler  Talked  Of— How  it  is  to  be 
Done— Hayes  Out  and  Tilden  In,  or  Hayes 
Out  and  Thurman  In— Democratic  Au- 
thorities FOR  It. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  History  of  Democratic  Election  Frauds. 

PART  I— Page  50— "Counting  in"  peculiarly 
A  Democratic  Invention  and  peculiarly  a 
Democratic  Practice— Counting  in  op  Polk 
in  1844— Of  Buchanan  in  1857— The  attempt 
TO  COUNT  Tilden  in  in  1876— The  earlier 
Frauds  compared  with  the  later. 

PART  II— Page  53— Popular  Votes  vs.  Elec- 
toral Votes— Popular  and  Electoral 
Votes  of  Harrison  and  Van  Buren,  Polk 
AND  Clay,  Harrison  and  Cass— Tilden's 
Pretended  "Popular"  Majority— Votes 
in  the  Free,  Border  and  Slave  States- 
Real  Voting  Strength  of  Gulf  States 
Shows  a  Republican  Majority  of  183,335 
in  1870,  and  large  increase  since— south 
Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana  es- 
sentially Republican  now. 

PART  UI— Page  55— The  Florida  Case- 
Bloody  Violence  failing,  fraud  and  ju- 
dicial   USURPATION— A    BRIEF    HISTORY     OF 

all  the  fraudulent  proceedings  by  which 
Tilden  strove  to  capture  that  one 
NEEDED  Electoral  vote— Facts,  figures 

AND  incidents. 

PART  IV— Page  59— The  Louisiana  case- 
Population  AND  VOTES— Ku-KlUX  CRIMES 
OF  1868— Tilden  Rifle  Clubs  of  1876— The 

TERRIBLE  OUTRAGES  AND  MURDERS  IN  THE 
SEVENTEEN  PaRISHF^— ShERIDAN's  STATE- 
MENT—ThE   State   Returning  Board— Its 

DUTIES— How    AND  WHY     IT    ACTED— INFAMY 

OF  THE  Tilden  Democracy. 
PART  V— Page  62— The  Hale  Amendment  to 

THE  ONE-SIDED    RESOLUTION— ThE     FLORIDA 

FRAUDS- The  Oregon  corruption  and 
BRIBERY— The  Louisiana  bull-dozing  and 
FRAUDS— The  South  Carolina  bribery  and 
CORRUPTION— The     Mississippi     shot-gun 

FRAUDS,  registration  AND  OTHER  STATIS- 
TICS. 

PART  VI— Page  64— The   Page   resolution 

CONDEMNING     TiLDEN'S     ATTEMPT     TO    STEAL 

THE  Oregon  vote,  and  denouncing  the  in- 
famy OF  CrONIN,  defeated  by  THE  DEMO- 
CRATS—OnLY     TWO      DECENT      MEN      IN     ALL 

Israel. 


VI 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Jeff  DavlH'    Recent   Speech. 

PARTI— Page  66— The  Right  of  Skcession 
Vindicated  Still—*'  A  necessity  for  the 
Safety  and  Freedom  of  thr  Southern 
States— Duty  to  Fight  for  it— The  South 

WILL    abide  by    the  CONSTITUTION    AS    THEY 


CONSTRUE  IT— The  assurance  OF  FULL  TR 
UMPH    TO    THE    SoUTH— RENEWAL     OF     StAT 

Sovereignty — Fraternity  Destroyed- 
The  Coming  Southern  Domination"— "Prij 
CIPLE8  and  Practices"  ok  the  Slave-holi 
BBS  TO  BE  restored— The  Mississippi  Sho 
gun  means  OF  Southern  Rrstoration— Th 
Spirit  which  animatedhishearers— Spiri 
op  the  Mississippi  Press. 


p 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  Republicaii  Parly  the  Real  Greenback  Party, 


PART  I. 
The  Republican  Party  the  Fa- 
ther, Friend,  ancl  Guardian  of 
the  Republican  Greenback  — 
History  of  the  Greenbach's 
Birth— The  l.egal-Tender  Act— 
Reaison  for  its  Being— Demo- 
cratic Opposition  and  Voles- 
Secretary  Chase's  liCtter. 

To  ascertain  the  positioa  in  which  the 
two  great  parties  of  the  country  have 
hitherto  stood  on  the  legal-tender  note,  or 
"Greenback"  question,  and  the  folly  of 
the  formation  of  a  "  Greenback  party," 
when  it  is  susceptible  of  positive  proof 
that  the  Republican  party  has  not  only 
always  been  the  best  friend,  but  is  the 
father  and  guardian  of  the  greenback, 
while  the  Democratic  party  has  been  its 
bitter  enemy,  it  may  be  well  to  look  back 
into  the  history  of  its  origin  and  its  growth 
in  public  esteem. 

_  It  originated  in  1862  as  purely  a  Repub- 
lican measure,  suggested  by  a  Republican 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  passed  by  a 
Republican  Congress,  approved  by  a  Re- 
oublicau  President,  as  a  means  whereby 
1  long  and  bloody  war,  brought  on  by  the 
ittempts  of  the  rebel  wing  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  to  rule  or  ruin  this  Union  of 
States,  might  end  in  a  triumph  of  union 
and  freedom. 

February  6,  1862,  under  the  manage- 
nent  of  that  staunch  "old  commoner," 
Chad.  Stevens,  the  bill  first  authorizing 
i.n  issue  of  United  States  legal-tender 
lotes  was  passed  by  the  House.  The  vote 
ras  yeas  93,  nays  59,  the  yeas  (only  seven 
Democrats)  being  almost  entirely  Repub- 
ican,  and  the  nays  (which  included  twenty 
Republicans)  mainly  Democratic.  Among 
he  prominent  Democrats  who  voted 
gainst  the  greenback  on  this  its  first  ap 
►earance  will  be  found  the  names  of  S.  S. 
^x,  Holman,  of  Indiana,  Pendleton  and 
/"allandigham,  of  Ohio,  and  Voorhees,  of 
ndiana,  .some  of  whom  at  this  late  day 
irofess  to  be  advocates  and  friends  of  the 
;reenbackl  In  the  Senate  the  bill  was 
assed   by  an   affirmative  vote  of  30,  of 


whom  25  were  Republicans — only  three 
Republicans  voting  against  it !  The  bill 
became  a  law  February  25.  1862. 

The  reason  why  the  legal-tender  clause 
was  put  into  the  act  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Republican  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
S.  P.  Chase,  was  because  of  the  refusal  of 
''  some  persons  and  some  institutions  which 
refused  to  receive  and  pay"  out  United 
States  notes  and  thus  depreciated  them. 
These  "persons"  and  "institutions" 
were  of  the  Democratic  faith,  and  their 
eflfort  was  to  cripple  the  Government  in 
its  war  on  the  Southern  wing  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union.  This  is  the  precise  language  of 
Mr.  Secretary  Chase's  letter  of  January 
29,  1862,  to  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
which  led  to  the  enactment  of  the  legal- 
tender  measure : 

*  *  *  But.  unfortunately,  there  are  some 
persons  and  some  institutions  which  refuse  to 
receive  and  pay  them,  (U.  S.  notes,)  and  whose 
action  tends  not  merely  to  the  unnecessary  de- 
preciation of  the  notes,  but  to  establish  dis- 
crimination in  business  against  those  who,  in 
this  matter,  give  a  cordial  support  to  the  Gov* 
ernment,  and  in  favor  of  those  who  do  not. 
Such  discriminations  should,  if  possible,  be 
prevented  ;  and  the  provision  making  the  notes 
a  legal  tender,  in  a  great  measure  at  least,  pre- 
vents it,  by  putting  all  citizens,  in  this  respect, 
on  the  same  level  both  of  rights  and  duties.  *  * 
The  Democratic  opposition  was  intended 
to  help  the  rebellion  and  cripple  the 
Union  Treasury.  That  was  the  motive. 
It  was  founded  upon  the  pretence  that  the 
is«!ue  of  legal-tender  greenbacks  was  un- 
constitutional. That  was  the  pretext. 
The  Democrats  hated  the  greenback  be- 
fore its  birth,  at  its  birth,  and  until  by  Re- 
publican legislation  it  grew  strong  and 
beautiful.  They  still  hate  it.  But  with 
devilish  cunning  they  now  pretend  to  love 
it,  and,  with  fond  caresses  would  embrace 
it  only  to  its  destruction  and  undoing. 


PART  II. 

The  Democrats  Directly  Respon- 
sible for  Contraction— The  Act 
of  April   12, 186a-AnaIysis  of 
the  Votes  by  which  it  Passed. 
The  act  of  April  12,  1866,  first  session. 

Thirty-ninth   Congress — providing   for    a 


contract»6n  hf  Ihe'volfctAe  oTgt&feflba'cfcB— 
may  fairly  be  claimed  by  the  Demo- 
crats as  their  own  measnre.  Under  that 
act,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  actually  retired  $44,000,- 
000  legal- tenders,  reducing  the  volume  of 
,  greenbacks  in  circulation  to  $356,000,000, 
although  subsequently,  afler  the  panic  ot 
September,  1878,  the  Secretary  issued  (or 
reissued)  more  than  half  of  what  he  had 
previously  withdrawn.  This  contraction 
act  passed  the  House  March  28,  1866,  by 
a  Tote  of  88  yeas  to  68  nays.  There  were 
66  Republicans  voting  yea,  while  52  Re- 
publicans voted  nay.  There  were  28 
Democrats  who  voted  yea,  and  only  one 
Democrat  who  voted  nay.  The  Democrats 
had  the  balance  of  power,  and  under  the 
lead  of  SamuelJ.  Randall,  James  Brooks, 
Michael  C.  Kerr,  Samuel  S.  Marshall  and 
Charles  A.  Eldridge,  threw  their  united 
strength  for  the  bill,  leaving  only  one  poor 
Democratic  straggler — Edwin  N.  Hub- 
bell— among  the  nost  of  Republicans  who 
fought  the  bill. 

So,  in  the  Senate.  There  the  bill  was 
passed  April  9, 1866,  by  a  vote  of  82  yeas 
to  7  nays.  The  seven  nays  were  all  Re- 
publicans, and  all  the  Democrats  who 
voted,  voted  for  the  bill.  Thus  it  appears 
that  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  in  both 
Houses  the  aggregate  Democratic  vote 
against  contraction  was  a  solitary  one ! 

The  Act  of  February  4,  1868,  suspending 
contraction— Vote  analyzed— Tlie  same 
old  ftory. 

Again,  there  is  the  case  of  the  act  of 
»  February    4,    1868,    passed    during    the 
second  session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress, 
which  reads  in  part  as  follows : 

Bf  it  enacted,  kc.  That  from  and  after  the 
paasa^e  of  this  act  the  authority  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  to  make  any  reductios  of 
tb^B  currency,  by  retiring  or  canceling  United 
States  notes,  shall  be.  and  is  hereby,  sus- 
pended.      ****** 

This  act  passed  the  House  December 
7,  1867,by  127  yeas  to  32  nays;  and  of  the 
127  yeas  only  24  were  Democratic  votes, 
while  103  were  Republican. 

Thus  again  and  again  do  we  see  that 
while  the  Republicans  did  all  they  possi- 
bly could  for  the  greenback,  the  Demo- 
crats did  all  they  possibly  could  against 
it,  and  whenever  they  were  strong  enough 
did  effectual  harm.  And  as  if  to  point 
the  case  still  more  strongly,  the  Demo- 
cratic President,  Andy  Johnson,  allowed 
the  measure  to  become  a  law  by  the  lapse 
of  time,  (because  he  knew  it  was  useless 
to  veto  it,)  but  refused  absolutely  to  sign 
it. 


PART  III. 

The  Public  Credit  Act— The  Re- 
marlcable  Vote  by  which  it 
Passed— Not  oue  Democrat 
Votes  for  it— What  the  Double 
Pledge  of  that  Act  was  Iuteud> 
ed  to  9Iean. 

The  Public  Credit  Act  of  March  18, 
1869 — the  first  act  approved  by  President 
Grant — contained  and  still  contains  the 
following : 

Be  it  enacted.  &c.,1\i&i*  *  *  the  faith  of 
the  United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the 
payment  in  coin. or  its  equivalent.of  all  the  obli- 
Kations  of  the  United  States  not  bearing  inter- 
est, known  as  United  States  notes.  *  *  * 
And  the  United  States  also  solemnly  pledges 
its  faith  to  make  provision  at  the  earliest  prac- 
ticable period  for  the  redemption  of  the  United 
States  notes  in  coin. 

The  vote  bv  which  this  act  passed  the 
House,  March  12,  1869,  was  97  yeas— all 
Republicans  except  Axtell,  who  is  now  a 
Republican — to  47  nays,  which  were  all 
Democratic  except  13.  In  other  words, ' 
all  the  Democrats  of  that  House  who 
voted  on  the  question  voted  to  cripple 
the  greenback  in  every  way  they  could, 
and  this  important  act,  designed  to  nurse 
and  foster  the  greenback,  to  give  it  char- 
acter and  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
as  well  as  in  our  own  eyes,  was  carried 
through  the  House  solely  by  Republican 
votes.  In  the  Senate  the  same  thing  was 
observed.  The  public  credit  act  passed 
the  Senate,  March  16,  1869,  by  42  yeas 
to  13  nays.  All  those  voting  for  the  bill 
were  Republicans.  Six  Democrats 
(there  were  only  eight  Democrats  all  told 
in  the  Senate  at  that  time)  voted  against 
it. 

This  shows  the  absolute  unanimity  of 
the  Democratic  party  at  that  time  in  op- 
position to  the  greenback,  and  the  al- 
most absolute  unanimity  of  the  Republi- 
can party  in  its  favor. 

And  here  it  may  be  well  to  note  the 
words  of  the  double  pledge,  intended  to 
strengthen  and  maintain  the  value  of  the 
greenback.  The  first  pledge  is  that, 
some  time  or  other,  the  greenback  will 
be  paid  in  coin,  ''^or  its  equivalent.^ ^  ""he 
second  pledge  is,  that  "  provision"  at  the 
"  earliest  practicable  period"  shall  be 
made  for  its  redemption.  There  is  n(  th- 
ing whatever  in  these  pledges  to  show  the 
intention  was  to  retire  the  greenb  ick 
whenever  that  "practicable  perioi" 
should  arrive.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
the  manifest,  palpable  intention  of  these 
pledges — first,   to    make    the    greenback 


dollar  as  good  as  a  gold  or  silver  dollar, 
and,  second,  to  let  all  understand  that 
the  Government  would  pay  a  gold  or  silver 
dollar  for  the  greenback  dollar,  just  as 
soon  as  they  could,  provided  anybody 
wanted  a  gold  or  silver  dollar  in  place  of 
the  greenback  dollar.  There  was  not  the 
slightest  intention  to  force  a  retirement  of 
greenbacks. 

The  Republican  party  conceived  and 
created  the  greenback,  and  reared  it  to  its 
present  full  and  mature  stature,  despite  all 
the  diseases  which  it  had  to  encounter  in 
its  infancy  and  youth,  and  despite  all  the 
malignant  devices  and  machinations  with 
v/hich  the  Democracy  sought  early  and 
late  to  enfeeble,  cripple,  and  destroy  it. 
The  Republican  party  was  not  likely  "to 
go  back"  on  that  which  had  proven  to  be 
its  best  friend. 
Senator  Hamilton's  proposed  amendment 

to  knock  the  life  out  of  the  Greenback. 

December  10,  1873. — In  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Hamilton,  of  Maryland,  (Democrat,)  pro- 
posed a  new  article  to  the  Constitution,  viz: 
That 

The  United  States  shall  never  make  any- 
thing but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  for  the 
payment  of  debts,  either  public  or  private. 

This  never  eame  to  a  vote. 


PART  lY. 
A  Democratic  Trick  at  tbe  £nd 
of  a.  Session— A  Vote  that 
Amounts  to  Nothing— A  Pre- 
vious Vote  where  the  Demo- 
crats Refused  to  Adopt  the 
Republican  Senate's  Proposi- 
tion to  make  Greenbacks  Re- 
ceivable for  Customs  Duties— 
The  Vote  in  Full. 

After  wasting  many  valuable  months, 
on  the  20th  June,  1878,  in  the  last  hours 
of  the  session,  the  House  went  through  the 
motions  of  passing  a  bill,  ©flfered  by  Mr. 
Southard,  providing  that  *'  on  and  after  the 
first  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1878,  legal- 
tender  notes  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
received  at  par  in  payment  of  customs 
duties,"  when  it  was  quite  evident  that 
nothing  could  be  done  by  the  Senate  at 
that  session.  As  Congress  will  not  meet 
again  until  after  the  date  fixed  in  the  bill, 
of  course  the  measure  is  dead.  It  was  a 
sharp  trick  to  "  fool"  the  people  ;  but  not 
sharp  enough  to  make  them  believe  that 
the  life-long  enemy  of  the  greenback  had 
really  and  sincerely  become  its  friend  all 
at  once. 

The  Ewing  Anti- Resumption  House 
bill,  as  amended,  having  gone  to  the  Sen- 


ate, that  Republican  body  on  June  13th, 
1878,  amended  and  passed  it,  so  that  it 
read  as  follows: 

Be  it  enacted,  &c..  That  from  and  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  United  States  notes  shall  be 
receivable  the  same  as  coin  in  payment  for  the 
4  per  cent,  bonds  now  authorized  by  law  to  be 
issued  ;  and  on  and  after  October  1, 1878,  said 
notes  shall  be  receivable  for  duties  on  import 

If  the  Democrats  wanted  an  opportu- 
nity to  show  love  for  the  greenback,  here 
was  their  chance,  for  here  was  a  measure 
expressly  designed  by  the  Republicans  to 
increase  the  value  and  usefulness  of  the 
greenback,  and  which  measure,  had  the 
Democratic  House  not  killed  it,  would 
have  brought  greenbacks  fully  up  to  par 
with  gold  and  silver. 

June  18,  Mr.  Fort,  Republican,  moved 
to  suspend  the  rules  and  concur  in  the 
above  Senate  amendments. 

The  Democratic  House  refused  to  sus- 
pend the  rules  and  concur  by  140  yeas  to 
112  nays — a  two-thirds  vote  being  needed. 
Only  34  Democrats  voted  yea,  while  97  of 
them  voted  nay.  Following  is  the  vote  in 
full: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Aclden,  Aldrich,  Bacon,  G.  A. 
Bagley.  J.  H.  Baker.  W.  H.  Baker,  Banks, 
BickneU,  Bisbee,  Boyd,  Brentano,  Brewer, 
Bridges,  Briggs,  T.  M.  Browne,  Bundy,  H.  C. 
Burchard,  Bardick,  Cain,  J.  M.  Campbell, 
Candler,  Cannon,  Caswell,  Claflin,  R.  Clark, 
Chmer,  Cobb,  Cole,  Conger,  S.  S.  Cox,  Cravens, 
Cidbtrson,  Cummings,  Cutler,  Danford,  H.  Da- 
vis, Deering,  Denison,  Bunnell,  Dwight,  Er/en, 
Eickhoff,  Ellsworth,  Errett,  J.  L.  Evans,  Fort, 
Foster,  Freeman,  Frye,  Fuller,  Gardner,  Gib- 
son, Giddings,  Goude,  Hale,  A.  H.  Hamilton, 
Hanna,  Harmer,  Harrison,  Haskell,  P.  C. 
Hayes,  Hazelton,  Hendee,  Henderson,  Hub- 
bell,  Hunter,  Hunton,  H.  L.  Humphrey,  Ittner, 
James,  F.  Jones.  Jorgensen,  Keifer,  Keightley, 
Kenna,  J.  H.  Ketcham,  Kimmtl,  Lapham, 
Lathrop,  Lindsey,  Loring,  LuttrelL  Marsh, 
Mayham,  McGowan,  McKinley,  L.  S  Metcalfe, 
Mitchell,  Morrinon,  Muller,  fi.  S.  Neal,  Nor- 
cross,  Oliver,  Overton,  Page.  G.  W.  Patterson 
T.  M.  Pater  son.  Peddle,  Phelps,  W.  A.  Phil- 
lips, Pollard,  Pound.  Powers,  Price,  Pugh, 
Bainey,  Randolph,  Reagan,  Reed,  W.  W.  Rice, 
Koberti,  G.  D.  Robinson,  Ryan,  Sampson, 
Sapp,  Schleicher,  Shallenberger.  Sinnickson, 
Smalls,  Starin,  Stenger,  Stewart,  J.  W.  Stone 
J.  C.  Stone,  Strait,  J.  M.  Thompson,  A.  Town- 
send,  M,  I.  Townsend,  Tucker,  Vceder.  Wat- 
son, Welch,  H.  White.  M.  D.White.  A.  S.  Wil- 
liams, A.  Williams,  C.  G.  Williams,  Willits. 
Wren— 140. 

Nays — Messrs.  Aiken,  Atkins,  Banning,  H.  P. 
Bell,  Blackburn,  Blair,  Blount,  Boone,  Bouck, 
Bragg,  Bright,  Brogden,  Butler,  Cabell,  J.  W. 
Caldwell,  Carlisle,  ChahnQ-a,  Chittenden,  A.  A. 
Clark,  J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B.  Clark,  jr.,  Collins, 
Cook,  Covert,  J.  D.  Cox.  Crapo,  Crittenden,  Da- 
vidson, J.  J.  Davis,  Bean,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  Dur- 
ham, Eames,  Mam,  I.  N.  Evans,  /.  H.  Evins, 
Ewing,  Felton,  E.  B.  Finlei/,  Forney,  Iranklin, 
Garfield,  Garth,  Gause,  Hardenp^rgh,  H.  R. 
Harris,  J.  T.  Harris,  Hart,  Hartridge,  Hartzell, 
Henkle,  Henry,  A.  A'.  Hewitt,  G.  W.  Hewi't,  Her- 
bert, Hooker,  House,  Hungerford,  /.  T.  Jones, 
J.  S.  Jones,  Kelley,  Ligon,  Lockwood,  Lynde, 
Mackey,  Maish,  Manning,  McCook,  McKenzie, 
McMahon,  Mills,  Monroe,  Morgan,  Morse,  Mul- 
drow,  O'Neill,  C.  N.  Potter,  Pridemore,  Kf.a,  J, 
B.  Reilly,  A.  V.  Rice,  Riddle,W.M.  Bobbins,  M. 
Ross,  Sayler,   Scales,  Shelley,  Singleton,  A.  H. 


6mith,  W.  K  Smith,  Southard,  ^onrka.  Springer, 
S(e«le,Stenhen>i,  Throckmorton,  R.W.Tnirnihcnd, 
Turmir,  THr^ev,  R.  B.  Vance,  Wad,l,'U,  Wait, 
Vf.  Ward,  Warner.  WhUthorne.  J.  WU/i^tns,  R. 
Williams,  A.  S.WUlis,  B.  A.  Willie,  B.  Wi/xan, 


»r  I>eixK»cratic  vote  against  Hub  Be- 
imbliean  Or>eenb»ck — Agraliwt  Its  beinif 
veceirable  for  castows— aud  iu  favor  of 
cancelling  and  retiring  it. 

November  2,  1877.— Mr.  Habbell,  Be- 
pyblican,  moved  to  strike  out  the  enacting 
clause  of  the  Ewing  House  bill — which 
sougkt  to  repeal  the  third  section  of  the 
Beeumption  act — and  insert  the  following: 

Thact  80  mucli  of  section  3  of  an  act  to  pro- 
vide for  resumption  of  8i>ecie  payments  ap- 
S roved  January  14, 1875,  as  provides  for  the  re- 
emption  in  coin,  by  the  United  States,  of  all 
l«iral-tender  notes  outstanding  on  the  first  day 
oC  January,  1879,  embraced  in  the  clause  of  said 
aection  of  said  act  in  the  language  following,  to 
wit:  "And  on  and  after  the  1st  day  of  January, 
A.  D.  1879.  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall 
redeem  in  ooia  the  United  States  legal-tender 
notes  then  outstanding,  on  their  presentation 
for  redemption  at  the  office  of  the  Assistant 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  in  the  city  of 
Jjtevr  York,  in  sums  of  not  less  than  $50,"  shall 
he  80  construed  as  not  to  authorize  or  require 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  retire  and  can- 
oed said  notes,  redeemed  as  aforesaid,  but  to  au- 
thorize and  require  said  Secretary  to  deposit 
ea&d  notes  in  the  Treasury  of  tue  United  States, 
wtereupon  said  notes  shall  be  paid  out,  at  par 
value,  in  discharge  of  all  claims  and  demands 
against  the  United  States,  or  in  exchange  for 
Qoin ;  and  said  notes  shall,  as  heretofore,,  con- 
tinue to  bo  a  legal  tender,  and  on  and  after  Jan- 
uary 1. 1879,  shall  be  receivable,  at  their  faoe 
value,  in  payment  of  all  dues  to  the  Q-ovem- 
oneat,  and  for  all  debts,  except  Avhere  coin  pay- 
Htnent  in  stipulated  by  contract  or  statute  ;  and 
all  provisions  of  law  in  conflict  with  this  act  are 
b«Feby  repealed. 

This  was  defeated  by  90  yeas  to  158 
nays — only  6  Democrats  voting  for  it,  and 
only  30  Republicajas  voting  against  it. 
The  following  is  the  vote  in  detail :         ^^ 

Teas— Mffisrs.  Aldrich,  Bacon,  G.  A.  Bagle-;', 
W.  H.  Baker,  Ballou,  Banks-  Bisbee,  Boyd, 
Brentano,  Brewer,  Briggs,  H.C.  Burcbard.Bur- 
dick,  Camp,  J.  M.  Campbell,  Claflin,  R.  Clark, 
Cole,  Conger,  J. D  Cox.  Crapo,  Cummings,  Dan- 
^ord,  H.  Davis,  Deering,  Denison,  Dunnell, 
]>wigfat,  Eames.  Ellsworth.  I.  N.  Evans,  Foster, 
JPreeman.  Frye,  Garfield,  Hale,  Harmer,  B.  W. 
Harris,  Hendee,  Henderson,  Hubbell,  H.  L, 
Humphrey,  Hungerford,  Ittner,  James,  F. 
Jvnee.  J .  S  Jones,  Jorgensen.  Keightley,  0.  M. 
JLandcra,  Lapham,  Lindsey,  Lockwood,  Loriog, 
Jjnttrell,  McGowan.  McKinley,  L.  S.  Metcalfe, 
Jttenroe,  Mo.-ae.  Norcross,  O'Neill,  Overton,  Par- 
Checho,  G.  W.  Patterson,  Peddie,  Pound.  Pow- 
ers, Price,  Pugh,  Reed,  W .  W .  Rice,  G.  D.  Rob- 
nnson,  Sampson,  Shellenberger,  Sinnickson, 
Stewart,  J.  W.  Stone,  A.  Townsend,  Wait,  Wat- 
son, Welch,  H.  White,  A.  S.  WiUi%m,»,  A,  Wil- 
liams, C.  G.  Williams,  R.  Williams.  Willits, 
Wren— 90. 

Nays— Messrs.  AtJdm.  J.  H.  Bakw,  Ban- 
mmff,  Bayn^,  Beebe,  H.  P.  Bell,  Blackburn, 
JBland,  Boene,  Bragg,  Brogden,  T.  M.  Brown«, 
Muckner,  Gahell,  Cain,  J.  W.  Caldwell.  W.  P. 
iOaldwell,  Calkins,  Cannon,  Carlide,  Chalmers, 
A^  A.  Clark,  J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B,  Clark,  Jr^ 
Clymer,  Cobb,  Callins,  dak,  Qjvert,  Cranenn, 
Crittenden,  Culberson,  Cutler,  Bamdson,  J.  J. 
J)«OM,    Dibrell^   Dickey,     Do-uglas,     Durham, 


Eden,  Eickhoff,  Elank,  Errett,  J.  H.  Evin$, 
Ewing.  Felton,  E.  B.  Finleg,  Forney,  Fort, 
Franiclin,  Fuller,  Oardner,  Garth,  Gibion,  G id- 
ding  t.  Glover.  Qoode,  QvmJter.A.  H.  Hamilton, 
Hanna,  Hardenbergh,  H.  M.  UarriH.  J.  T.  Jlar- 
rin,  tlarrinon.  Hart,  Hartridge,  Hartzcll,  Has- 
kell, H'ttcher.  P.  C.  Hayes.  Henklc,  Henry, 
Herbert,  A.  S.  Hemitt.  G.  W.  Hcmitt,  H'loker, 
Hiwie,  Hunter,  Hunton,  J.  T.  Jonen,  Joyce, 
Kelley,  Kenna,  Killinger,  Kimmcll,  Knapp, 
Knott,  Lathrop,  Leonard,  Ligon,  Mackey, 
Mainh,  Manning,  Marsh.  'Martin,  Mayham, 
McCook,  McKenzie,  McMahon,  Milla,  Money, 
Morgan,  Morrison,  Muldrow,  Midler,  Oliver, 
Phelps.  W.  A.  Phillips,  C.  N.  Potter,  Pride- 
more,  Rainey,  Randolph,  Rea,  Reagan.  J.  B, 
Reilln,  A.  V.  Rice.  Riddle.  W.  M.  Robhim, 
Roberts,  Robertson,  M.  S,  Robinson,  M.  Rosa, 
Ryan,  Sapp,  Sayler,  Scales,  Skelley,  Singleton, 
Slemona,  W.  E.  Smith,  Sparks,  Springer,  Steele, 
Steager,  Stephens.  Swann,  J,  M.  Thompson, 
Throckmorton,  Tipton,  R.  W.  Townsn-nd, 
Tucker,  Turner,  Turney,  R.  B.  Vance,  Van 
Vorhes.  Waddell,  Walsh,  War aer,  M.  D.White, 
WJiitthorne,  J.  N.  Williams,  A,  S.  Willis.  B.  A. 
Willis,  B.  Wilson,  F.  Wood,  Wright,  Yeates, 
Young— lb%. 

AnotAver  Republican  measure  gets  tliroftsfi 
both  Houses. 

April  29,  1878,  Mr.  Fort,  Republican, 
introduced  the  following  bill,  which  passed 
both  Houses,  and  is  now  law,  prohibit- 
ing any  further  retirement  of  the  Repub- 
lican greenback : 

Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  from  and  after  the 
passage  of  this  act  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  other  officer  under 
him  to  cancel  or  retire  any  more  of  the  United 
States  legal-tender  notes.  And  when  any  of 
said  notes  may  be  redeemed  or  be  received  into 
the  Treasury  under  any  law  from  any  source 
whatever,  and  shall  belong  to  the  United  States, 
they  shall  not  be  retired,  canceled  or  destroyed, 
but  they  shall  be  reissued  and  paid  out  again 
and  kept  in  circulation  :  Provided,  That  noth- 
ing herein  shall  prohibit  the  cancellation  and 
destruction  of  mutilated  notes  and  the  issue  of 
other  notes  of  like  denomination  in  their  stead, 
as  now  provided  by  law.  All  acts  and  parts  of 
acts  in  conflict  herewith  are  hereby  repealed. 

PAET  Y. 
Democratic  Hatred  of  tke  Re- 
publican Greenback  Follows 
it  even  into  tlie  Sinpreme  Court 
-  Democratic  Justices  Hold  tbe 
liCgal  Tender  Act  Unconstitu- 
tional —  Republican  J  nstices 
Hold  ©tlierwise. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  the  impreg- 
nable position  that  while  the  Democratic 
party  has  ever  been  the  enemy  of  the 
greenback,  the  Republican  party  has  ever 
been  its  best  and  only  friend,  it  may  be 
well  to  recall  the  fact  that  in  the  famous 
case  of  Hepburn  vs.  Griswold,  involving 
the  constitutionality  of  the  legal  tender 
clause,  as  relates  to  contracts  made  prior 
to  its  adoption,  the  Democratic  Supreme 
Court  judges — Chief  Justice  Chase,  and 
Associate  Justices  Nelson,  Clifford,  Grier, 
and  Field — decided  that  the  legal  tender 


act  "is  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Constitution  ;  and  that  il;  is  prohibited  by 
the  Constitution  ;"  while  the  Republican 
judges — Miller,  Swayne  and  Davis — dis- 
sented, and  held  the  "very  decided  opin- 
ion that  Congress  acted  within  the  scope 
of  its  authority,"  and  declared,  in  their 
opinion,  "the  law  to  be  constitutional." 
That  is  known  as  the  legal  tender  decis- 
sion  of  1869 — and  was  not  made  by  a  full 
court.  Subsequently,  with  a  full  bench, 
the  Supreme  Court  made,  in  the  cases  of 
Knox  vs.  Lee  and  Parker  vs.  Davis,  what 
is  known  as  the  legal  tender  decision  of 
1871 — the  Republican  justices,  forming  a 
majority  of  the  court,  holding  the  legal 
tender  "acts  of  Congress  constitutional, 
^  as  applied  to  contracts  made  either  before 
or  after  their  passage,"  thus  overruling 
the  former  decision  in  Hepburn  vs.  Gris- 
wold;  while  the  Democratic  judges,  to  wit: 
Chief  Justice  Chase,  and  Justices  Nelson, 
GlLfiFord,  and  Field,  dissented. 


PART  VI. 
Utterance;^  of  Democratic  I^ead- 
er»  in  €oiigrei»s  I>eelariMg  tke 
OreenbaclL  Uitcoiiistitutioiial. 

The  Democratic  leaders  besides  voting 
against  the  Republican  greenback  worked 
against  it  and  talked  in  Congress  against 
it  with  all  their  might — taking  the  ground 
that  it  was  unconstitutional  to  issue  such 
money.  Here  is  what  some  of  them  said 
cm  this  point. 

What  Tallaudigham,  Democrat,  of  Ohio, 
said. 

In  a  speech,  February  3,  1862,  Mr.  Val- 
LANDiGHAM  said : 

Sir,  if  it  were  fifty  fold  as  constitutional  as, 
in  my  deliberate  judgment  it  is  unconstitu- 
tional in  letter,  and  abhorrent  to  the  principles 
and  spirit  of  thut  instrument,  it  could  not  com- 
mand my  support.  I  will  not  renew  the  discus- 
sion of  the  question  of  constitutional  power  to 
make  Government  paper  or  any.other  paper,  a 


legal-tender  in  payment  of  any  debts,  publie 
or  private,  present  or  prospective.  My  col- 
league from  the  First  district  (Mr,  Pendleton 
the  other  day,  with  a  clearness  and  force  neveir 
exceeded  in  this  hall,  disposed  of  that  que»« 
tion  forever.    *    * 

Mr  Powell,  Democrat,  of  Kentucky,  saicE 

In  my  judgment  the  bill  is  plainly  and  pal- 
pably violative  of  the  Constitution  of  th» 
United  States.    *    * 

Hendrick  B.  Wright,   Democrat,   of  Penn- 
sylvania, said,  Februaocy  5,  18G3  : 

This  bill  proposes,  sir,  to  throw  on  the  coun- 
try $100,000,000  of  Treasury  notes,  payable  at  no 
time — payable  nowhere — payable  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  th.e  Government — and  the  astounding 
clause  is  added,  that  these  notes— pai  able  at 
no  plaK3e,  at  no  time— .^  hall  be  lawful  money 
and  a  legal-tender  in  payment  of  all  debts, 
public  and  private,  within  the  United  States. 
Now  I  submit,  as  a  matter  of  law,  as  a  correct 
conclusion  from  the  Constitution  itself,  that 
you  cannot,  under  the  Constitution  of  these 
United  States,  make  anything  but  gold  and 
silver  a  legal-tender  on  contracts. 

Gem'se  H.  Pendleton,  Democrat,. of  €>liio> 
said,  January  39, 1863 : 

I  find  no  grant  of  this  power  in  direct  terms, 
or,  as  I  think,  by  fair  implication.  It  is  not 
an  accidental  omission  ;  it  is  not  an  admission 
through  inadvertency;  it  was  intentionally 
left  out  of  the  Constitu  tion  because  it  was  de- 
signed that  the  power  should  not  reside  in  the 
Federal  Government. 

Senator  James  A.  Bayard,  Democrat,  <» 
Delaware,  February  13,  1863,  said : 

The  thing,  to  my  mind,  is  so  palpable  a  vio- 
lation of  the  Constitution  that  I  doubt  whether 
in  any  court  of  justice  in  the  country,  having 
a  decent  regard  to  its  o  wn  resi  ectability,  you 
can  possibly  expect  that  this  bill  which  younow 
pass  will  not,  whenever  the  question  is  pre- 
sented judicially,  receive  its  condemnation  as 
unconstitutional  and  void  in  this  clause. 

Senator  James  A.  Pearce,    Democrat,   » 
Mainland,  said.  Februai-y  13,  1862  : 

I  see  no  power  from  which  we  can  infer 
authority  in  this  Government  to  make  paper 
money  a  legal  tender. 

Senator  Willard  Saulsbury,  Democrat,  ©• 
Delaware,  said,  February  13,  1863  : 

It  is  so  clearly  unconstitutional,  in  my  opin- 
ion, that  I  cannot  conscientiously  vote  for  it- 


CHAPTER  11. 
The  Labor  Question. 


PAKT  I. 

The  L.aboi*  Qoeistion— The  Re- 
publican Party  the  True  L<abor 
Party— Democratic  Efforts  to 
Deg  rade  and  Brutalize  Labor. 

What  does  the  workingman  want  that 
the  Republican  party  is  not  pledged  by 
every  tradition  and  measure  to  do  for 
him?  That  party  was  absolutely  born  in 
a  fight  with  the  slave  power — the  power 
of  owned  labor,  owned  by  Democrats. 
And  throughout  its  existence  it  has  ever 
frowned  down  and  legislated  against  any 
and  all  movements  to  degrade  labor  and 
make  it  servile.  The  Democratic  party,  on 
the  other  hand,  has  not  had  a  thought  for 
the  past  forty- five  years  beyond  the  preser- 
vation of  the  accursed  systems  of  slavery 
and  servile  labor.  For  the  right  to  own 
labor  instead  of  paying  "  a  fair  day's 
wages  for  a  fair  day's  work,"  that  party 
plunged  the  nation  into  civil  war. 

How  the  Democratic  party  robs  Product-, 
ive  labor  over  $135,000,000  a  year. 

Out  of  the  wealth  which  labor  produces 
every  year,  more  than  $125,000,000  are 
paid  for  pensions  and  interest  on  the 
war  debt  of  the  nation,  all  entailed  by 
the  war  waged  by  Southern  Democrats, 
egged  on  by  Northern  Democratic  Dough- 
faces, for  a  slave  labor  system. 

Democratic  "devotion"  to  the  laboring 
people— The  "  cheese-paring "  policy- 
Sad  sights  and  sounds  in  TVashington— 
Democratic  crusade  against  scrubbing 
women  and  male  laborers. 

The  Democratic  House  during  the  last 
three  years  has  shown  its  "devotion  to  the 
laboring  people"  by  the  cheeseparing 
policy  of  cutting  down  the  wages  of  gov- 
ernment laborers,  messengers,  and  clerks, 
carefully  avoiding  any  reduction  in  the 
pay  of  its  own  members.  Upon  the  ad- 
journment at  each  session  the  streets  of 
Washington  have  presented  the  spectacle 
of  crowds  of  hapless  people  discharged 
from  the  lower  grades  of  service  in 
the  departments,  while  the  corridors 
of  the  great  Government  buildings  were 
loud    with     the     wailing    of    poor    wo- 


men suddenly  bereft  of  all  chance 
to  earn  a  scant  livelihood  for  themselves 
and  dependent  families.  It  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  special  triumph  of  this 
Democratic  policy  that  in  this  cutting 
down  of  the  low-priced^  laborers  and 
clerks,  both  as  to  pay  and  numbers  em- 
ployed, the  poor  scrubbing  women  en-  * 
gaged  at  the  public  buildings  were  re- 
duced in  the  greatest  proportion,  and 
many  were  discharged.  At  one  time  even 
the  appropriations  for  laborers  at  the 
Capitol  were  withheld.  So  that  there  was 
no  lawful  way  in  which  men  enough  could 
be  employed  to  clean  up  the  filth  expec- 
torated by  the  Democracy  in  the  halls 
through  which  the  wives  of  Senators, 
Cabinet  oflficers,  foreign  ministers,  or 
even  the  wife  of  the  President,  could  walk 
to  reach  the  place  assigned  to  them  in 
the  galleries  of  Congress. 


PART  II. 
Condition  and  Wages  of  the  L-a- 

borer   abroad— Compare  these 

Prices  and   Hard  Times  with 

our  own. 

To  show  that  the  prevailing  "hard 
times"  in  America — bad  as  they  are — 
might  be  worse,  and  that  "  worse  times  " 
really  exist  in  other  countries,  it  is  in- 
structive to  glance  at  the  reports  on  labor 
and  wages  in  various  foreign  countries  re- 
cently received  at  the  State  Department 
from  our  consuls  abroad.  A  comparison 
of  the  condition  and  wages  of  the  Euro- 
pean laborer  with  those  of  the  American 
J  laborer  will  show,  at  any  rate,  that  the 
latter  is  not  yet  reduced  to  such  straits  as 
his  European  brother,  thanks  to  the  de- 
feat of  the  Democratic  Wood  tariff  bill. 

Labor  and  wages  In  Northern  Germany- 
Discontent. 

The  consul  at  Brunswick,  reporting  as 
to  Northern  Germany,  divides  labor  into 
three  classes : 

Mechanics  and  skilled  artisans  of  all  kinds, 
who  receive  from  48  to  88  cents  a  day  ;  ordinary 
laborers,  including  farm  and  field  hands,  who 
receive  from  40  to  64  cents  a  day,  without 
board ;  and  railway  hands,  laborers  on  public 
works,  and  the  like,  who  get  from  44  to  60  cents 


a  day.  A  laborer's  family  of  husband,  wife 
and  three  children,  can  live  very  comfortable 
on  900  marks  (about  $215)  per  annum,  and  if 
steady  work  offers  can  make  both  ends  meet. 
In  most  cases  the  wife  and  elder  children  C9n- 
tribute  to  the  general  support  by  performing 
other  work. 

liabor  and  wages  in  Rhenish ;|Prussia— Fall 
in  Avages — Rise  in  cost  of  living.  ^.'J'Z, 

Our  consul  at  Bannen  transmits,  June 
8,  1878,  a  letter  from  the  president  of  the 
Agricultural  Society,  Rhenish  Prussia,  in 
which  he  says : 

During  the  years  1871-4,  the  wages  of  farm 
hands  and  journeymen  had  risen  to  such  a 
height  that  agricultural  pursuits  yielded  but 
a  small  profit,  or  more  often  resulted  in  severe 
losses  to  tenants  and  owners  of  mortgaged 
lands.  The  rise  was  equal  to  50  per  cent.,  and 
the  fall  during  the  last  few  years  is  about  25 
per  cent.  Grain  and  bread  prices  have  fallen 
slightly,  but  all  other  necessaries  remain  to  a 
great  extent  at  their  former  prices.  This  is 
particularly  true  with  the  dairy  and  the  herd. 
Milk,  butter,  cheese,  meats,  and  leather  have 
more  than  doubled  in  price  in  the  last  twenty - 
five  years. 

liOW  prices  of  skilled  labor  in  France. 

Our  commercial  agent  at  St.  Etienne, 
France,  reports,  June  7,  1878 :  Z 

"Weavers  of  plain  ribbons  earn  40  to  50  cents 
a  day,  a  better  grade  60  and  70  cents,  and  novel- 
ties $1.40  to  $1.80  a  day.  Women,  who  do  most 
of  the  work  on  rib'bon«,  except  weaving,  make 
from  50  to  65  cents  a  day.  Farm  hands  average 
$15  a  month,  while  their  cost  of  living  is  $12  or 
$13  a  month.  Miners,  those  who  work  under- 
ground, earn  $1.05  to  $1,15  a  day ;  above  ground, 
65  to  75  cents  a  day.  No  improvements  are 
manifest  in  machinery  or  in  the  manner  of  do- 
ing business. 

L.ong  hours  and  low  pay  in  Fngland. 

Our  consul  at  Bradford,  England,  re- 
ports as  to  his  district  that — 

The  wages  of  railroad  employees  are :  Station- 
master,  $350  to  $500  a  year,  with  a  house; 
guards,  $5  to  $7.50  a  week ;  engine-driver .  $1.37 
to  $1.87  a  day;  stoker,  87  cents  to  $1  per  day. 
Factory  hands— General  foreman,  $3  to  $5  per 
day;  foreman,  $1.50 ;  skilled  hands,  man,  $1.25; 
woman,  75  cents ;  common  hands,  87  to  50  cents; 
mechanics,  $1.25;  cartmen,  $1;  colliers,  $1.50  a 
day.  Police  force— Chief  superintendent,  $2,500 
and  house  (included)  per  annum ;  superinten- 
dents of  divisions,  $700  to  $750;  inspectors,  $8.75 
to  $10  a  week;  sergeants,  $7.25  to  $8.75;  police- 
men, $6  to  $3.50  a  week.  Public  works— Street 
sweepers,  83  cents  a  day;  laborers,  87  to  95 
cents  a  day;  repairers  of  street  paving,  $1.  All 
laborers  work  56i  hours  per  week.  Wages  be- 
gan to  be  reduced  one  year  ago,  followed  by 
strikes  and  riots. 

L.OW  wages  in  Scotland— They  are  steadily 
declining — High  cost  of  living. 

Our  consul  at  Leith  gives  the  annual  in- 
come among  the  Lothians : 

'Of  farm  laborers  as  $242.40;  in  the'.'south- 
west  of  Scotland,  $230.40;  women.  $144.  In  the 
northeastern  counties  men  $221.11.  Female 
kitchen  servants  $76.80  per  annum.  In  ex- 
treme northern  counties  men  $187.20.  Day 
laborers  get  from  48  to  72  cents  a  day.  Specially 
skilled  or  trustworthy  men  and  women  re- 
ceive higher  wages  than  those  above  specified. 


In  most  cases  married  men  are  paid  monthly, 
and  single  men  half  yearly.  On  the  railways 
the  wages  per  week  are :  Passenger  conductors, 
$6.48:  freight  conductors,  $7.20;  porters,  $5.04. 
Sunday  labor  is  paid  for  extra.  Engineers  re- 
ceive $1.68  per  day;  firemen,  96  cents;  laborers, 
72  cents.  Men  in  the  linen  works  earn  $6  per 
week;  women,  $2.65,  A  week  is  56i  hours.  Car- 
penters are  paid  $1.05;  masons,  $1.50;  laborers, 
80  cents.  A  day  is  ten  hours  except  with  ma- 
sons, whose  day  is  nine  hours.  Bookbinders 
earn  $8.50  per  week;  shoemakers,  $6  for  sixty 
hours,  (as  a  rule  they  work  by  the  piece;)  cab- 
inet-makers, $7.20;  printers,  newspaper,  night 
work,  make  from  $11  to  $18  a  week  or  more;  day 
work,  $7.80,  (day  hands  work  51i  hours,  night 
hands  48  hours  per  week.)  In  publishing  houses 
they  earn  $6.75  for  54  hours.  Painters  $7.65  for 
51  hours;  plumbers,  $7.20;  tailors,  generally  by 
the  piece,  averaging  $6.7)  per  week. 

Our  consul  at  Glasgow  reports,  as  to  Scotland 
generally:  "  Wages  are  steadily  declining.  La- 
borers receive  from  50  to  75  cents  a  day ;  min- 
ers, 8  to  12  cents  an  hour;  mechanics,  $7  a 
week;  printers.  $8.  On  railways  conductors 
are  paid  $5  to  $6  a  week;  switch-tenders,  $5; 
engine-drivers,  10  to  14  cents  an  hour ;  firemen, 
6  to  8  cents  an  hour.  The  cost  of  living  is  about 
the  same  as  in  the  United  States  ;  whisky,  con- 
sidered a  necessity,  costs  about  300  per  cent, 
more  in  Scotland  than  in  the  United  States, 
Beer  is  comparatively  cheap," 

Wages  still  lower  in  Ireland— Decreased 
"savings.'. 

Our  consul  at  Cork  reports,  June  27, 
1878,  that  in  Ireland 

A  gricultural  laborers  get  48  cents  a  day ;  coal- 
heavers,  machinists,  gas-fitters,  and  bakers, 
$1.09;  masons,  shoemakers,  painters,  and  join- 
ers, $1,21 ;  on  public  works  laborers  earn  from 
48  to  60  cents  a  day ;  on  the  railways  conductors 
receive  from  $4.38  to  $7.29  per  week  ;  engineers. 
$1.21  to  $1.70  per  day.  Last  summer  the  rail- 
way employees  struck  for  an  advance,  but 
failed.  The  cost  of  living  to  the  laborer  and 
mechanic  is  about  $85  per  annum.  Trade  is 
much  depressed,  with  many  failures.  Wages 
and  cost  of  living  have  increased  about  one- 
sixth  since  1873, 

Our  consul  at  Dublin  reports  as  to  Ire- 
land that — 

The  skilled  mechanic  gets  per  day  6s.  6d,,  and 
the  unskilled  mechanic  receives  17s.  6d.  per 
week.  Agricultural  laborers  are  paid  per  day 
from  Is.  2d.  to  2s.  6d.,  permanent,  and  from  2s. 
6d.  to  3s.  6d.  in  the  busy  season,  the  rate  of 
wages  varying  very  much  according  tb  locality 
and  season. 

liOW  wages  in  Wales — Women  forced   to 
labor— Wages  decreased  and  decreasing* 

Our  consul  at  CardiflF,  Wales,  reports, 
June  29,  1878,  that— 

In  Wales  farm  laborers  earn  from  $1.50  to 
$3.50  per  week,  varying  in  difi'erent  counties 
more  or  less  distant  from  railroads;  privileges 
of  house  room  and  beer  may  be  added  to  the 
wages.  In  towns  brickmakers  earn  $2.50  to 
$7.50  a  week;  ship  carpenters,  $1.62  a  day; 
coopers,  $1.12;  engine  drivers,  #1.25  to  $2:  fire- 
men, $1  to  $1.12;  laborers,  10  cents  per  hour; 
painters,  14  cents ;  masons,  16  cents  ;  carpen- 
ters, 16  cents ;  plumbers,  15  cents ;  plasterers, 
15  cents  an  hour.  The  wives  of  laboring  men 
fill  a  more  active  place  in  the  bread  winning 
scheme  than  women  do  in  America.  Many  go 
off  to  their  work  every  morning  of  their  lives 
as  regularly  as  their  husbands.  The  cost  of 
living  in  Wales  would  be  somewhat  higher  now 
than  in  1873,  were  it  not  for  the  importation  of 


8 


American  beef,  canned  meats,  vegetables,  and 
fruits.  Meantime  the  rate  of  wages  has  de- 
creased and  the  tendency  is  downward.  Trade 
thronghout  the  district  is  in  a  very  depressed 
condition.  There  is  much  distress  among  the 
laboring  classes  for  want  of  employment.  The 
Welsh  laborers  as  a  class  are  thriftier  than  the 
Irish  or  English.  In  some  parts  of  Wales  the 
habits  of  the  people  are  still  primitive.  "Wages 
are  there  nominal. 

The  reason  why  the  Aiuericau  laboi-er  Is 
better  off  thau  the  laborer  abroad — How 
to  avoid  harder  times  and  get  better 
times  here. 

Thus,  we  find  without  taking  into  ac- 
count such  circuraatancea  as  the  awful 
famines  in  China,  India  and  Southern 
Morocco,  or  the  distresses  in  European 
and  Asiatic  Turkey,  incident  to  the  war 
with  Russia — that  the  American  laborer 
is  certainly  better  ofiF  than  the  laborer  of 
foreign  lands,  despite  all  the  malevolent 
attempts  of  the  Democrats  to  tinker  the 
tariff  in  the  interest  of  foreign  manufac- 
turers and  importers,  and  against  the  in- 
terests of  home  manufacturers  and  the 
labor  which  they  employ.  Upon  the  po- 
litical complexion  of  the  next  House,  it 
largely  depends  whether  times  will 
grow  still  harder,  as  will  be  the  case  if  the 
Democrats  get  control  of  it,  or  whether 
brighter  days  shall  dawn  as  will  be  the 
case  if  the  Republicans  get  control  of  it. 
For  it  is  susceptible  of  proof  that  the 
"cheese  paring"  policy  in  the  cutting  down 
of  the  pay  and  nujabers  of  the  poor  Gov- 
ernment laborers  and  clerks,  inaugurated 
at  the  time  the  Democrats  secured  the 
House  three  years  ago,  under  the  sham 
cry  of  "economy,"  immediately  led  to 
the  reduction  of  wages  of  labor  all  over 
the  United  States,  and  the  throwing  out 
of  numberless  thousands  of  deserving 
workingmen  and  women  from  employ- 
ment in  all  bur  cities  and  towns.  It 
caused  untold  distress,  and  the  panic  cre- 
ated by  the  threatened  passage  of  the 
Wood  tariff  bill,  added  still  further  to  the 
general  scare  and  disaster  and  the  conse- 
quent suffering  and  misery  of  the  classes 
who  are  anxious  for  work  but  cannot  get  it. 
.Yet,  despite  all  this,  as  has  been  shown, 
the  comparison  of  wages  of  labor  in  this 
country  with  wages  of  labor  in  foreign 
countries  is  favorable  to  our  own ;  aad 
that  this  is  the  case  is  due  mainly  to  the 
present  tariff  system  of  the  United  States, 
adhered  to  by  the  Republican  party,  and 
to  which  the  Democratic  party  is  opposed. 
Let  us  examine  this  matter  a  moment. 

The  Dcmocratictarift'bill— How  it  unsettled 
business  interests  and  injured  the  labor- 
ing man — Tlie  Democratic  vote  to  con- 
sider it. 

■  The  Wqod  Tariff  bill  introduced  at  the 


last  session  of  th-e  present  Congress  un- 
doubtedly did  more  than  any  other  one 
thing  to  unsettle  values,  to  destroy  confi- 
dence in  our  industries,  to  make  capital 
timid  of  investment,  and  to  react  with 
cruel  effect  upon  the  mechanic  and  labor- 
ing men  and  women  throughout  the  coun- 
try. At  first  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
land  proceeded  as  usual,  under  the  belief 
that  it  was  merely  one  of  the  usual  clap  trap 
devices  of  Democracy  to  secure  some  lit- 
tle political  strength  in  certain  localities, 
and  that  there  was  no  serious  purpose  in 
it.  But  after  a  while  apprehension  was 
aroused  and  petition  after  petition  came 
in  from  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land, 
deprecating  and  protesting  against  any 
change  in  the  wise  tariff  act  which  had 
been  given  to  the  country  by  the  Repub- 
lican party.  Deaf  to  these  appeals, 
and  refusing  to  give  audience  to  the  dele- 
gations which  came  to  Washington  in  the 
interests  of  the  trades  and  of  labor,  Mr. 
Wood  and  his  Democratic  friends,  contin- 
ued defiantly  to  press  bis  iniquitous,  illy- 
digested  tariff  bill  in  the  interests  of  for- 
eigners and  foreign  importers  and  against 
the  interests  of  our  own  tradesmen  and 
workingmen  and  the  people  generally. 
Republicans  did  all  they  could  to  refuse 
the  measure  any  consideration  whatever, 
but  at  last,  on  the  26th  March,  1878,  Mr. 
Wood  succeed'ed  in  bringing  the  bill  be- 
fore the  House.  Upon  his  motion  a  res- 
olution was  adopted  making  his  bill  the 
special  order  for  Thursday,  April  4,  and 
to  continue  from  day  to  day  until  disposed 
of.  The  vote  by  which  this  resolution 
was  agreed  to  was  137  yeas  to  114  nays. 
Of  the  yeas  there  were  122  Democrats  and 
only  15  Republicans  ;  of  the  nays  104  Re- 
publicans and  only  10  Democrats.  Thus, 
in  spite  of  the  almost  solid  Republican 
vote  against  giving  this  crude  biy  a  hear- 
ing, an  almost  solid  Democratic  vote 
brought  it  before  the  House  and  gave  it  a 
chance  of  being  enacted  into  a  law.  The 
Democrats  who  voted  to  make  the  bill  a 
special  order  are  the  following  r 

Meai-Ta.  Acklev,  Aiken,  Atkiuif,  Bannina,  -ffl 
P.  Ball,  Benedict,  Bicknell,  Blnckburn,  Bliss, 
Blount.  Boone,  Bouck,  Briaht,  Biick'ur,  Cabell, 
J.  W.  Caldwell,  W:  P.  Caldwell,  Garli'-.le,  Chal- 
mers, A,  A.  Clarke.  J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B. 
Clark,  Jr.,  Cobb,  Gook.  Covert,  S._  S.  Cox. 
Craven*,  Crittenden^  Culbtr^orK  Davidwn,  J. 
J.  Bavi',  Dibrell,  Dickty,  Bouglaf,  Durham, 
Edtn,  Eickhoff,  Ellis,  Fel'on,  E.  B.  Finley, 
Forneu.  Garth.  Cause,  Gibson,  Giddings,  Gun- 
ter.  A.  H.Hamilton,  Haad^nbergh,  H.  R.  Harris,. 
J.  T.  Harris,  Har-rinon,  Hurt,  Hartridge.  Hart- 
WcU,  Henkle,  Hearu.  A.  S.  Htwitt,  G.  W.  Hew- 
itt, Herbert,  Hooke)\  House,  Huntan,  F.  Jones, 
J.  T.  Jonet,  Kewna,  Kimmel,  Knott,  G.  M.  Lan- 
ders, Ligon,  L'^ekwood,  Lutrell,  Lijnde,  Man- 
ning, Martin,  Mayham,  McMahon,  Mills, 
Money,  Morgan,  Morrison,  Morse,  Muldrow,. 
Muller,  Phelps,  G.  N.  Potter,  Qu  nn,  Rea,  Rea- 
gan, A.  V.  Rice,  Riddle,    W.  M.   Bobbins,  Boh- 


9 


erts,  Rohertson.  Sayler,  Scaler,  Shelley,  Single- 
ton, Siemens,  W.  E  Smith.  Southard,  Springer, 
Steele.  Stephens,  Stvann.  Throckmorton,  li.  W. 
Toicnshend,  Tucker.  Turner,  R.  B.  Vance, 
Veeder,  Waddell,  Warner.  Whitthorne.  Wig- 
ginton,  A.  S,  Williams,  J.  William»,  J.  N.  Wil- 
liams, A.  S.  Willis,  B.  A.  Willis,  F.  Wood,  and 
Young. 

The  panic  it  occasioned— Gallant  fight  by 
the  Republicans  for  the  laboring  man — 
How  they  killed  the  Democratic  Tariff 
Bill— Democrats  who  voted  for  the  bill. 

Tbe  Republicans,  however,  continued  to 
fight  the  monstjous  iniquities  proposed  by 
this  bill,  and  finally,  after  a  long  and  doubt- 
ful contest — during  which  naany  of  our  most 
important  industries  languished,  hundreds 
of  business  houses  were  forced  to  suspend 
operations,  hundredsof  others  were  forced 
into  bankruptcy,  and  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  our  laboring  people  were  deprived 
of  the  chance  to  earn  their  daily  bread — suc- 
ceeded in  killing  this  baleful  Democratic 
measure.  On  the  5th  of  June,  1878,  the  en- 
acting clause  of  the  bill — to  the  intense 
chagrin  of  Mr  Wood  and  his  Democratic 
colleagues — was  stricken  out,  and  the  bill 
defeated  by  a  vote  of  134  yeas  to  120  nays. 
Of  the  134  yeas,  115  were  Republicans  and 
only  19  Democrats.  Of  the  120  nays,  113 
were  Democrats  and  only  7  Republicans. 
The  Democratic  vote  in  favor  of  the  bill  was 
therefore  in  the  proportion  of  about  6  for, 
to  every  1  against  it !  The  Republican 
Fote  against  the  bill  was  in  the  proportion 
)f  about  16  against,  to  every  1  for  it !  The 
lamesofthe  Democrats  who  voted  against 
jiilling  the  bill  were  as  follows  ; 

Nats— Messrs.  Acklen,  Aiken,  Atkins,  Ban- 
king, Beebe.  Bicknell,  Blackburn,  Bland,  Bliss, 
Blount,  Boone,  Bragg,  Bright,  Buckner,  Cabell, 
J.  W.  Caldicell,  W.  P.  Caldwell,  Candler,  Car- 
isle,  Chalmers,  J.  B.  Clark,  jr.,  Cobb,  Cook, 
lovert,  S.  S.  Cox,  Cravens,  Crittenden,  Oulber- 
lon,  Davidson,  Bean,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  Eden, 
Eickhoff,  Elam,  Ellis,  ^  Excing,  Felton,  E.  B. 
^inley,  Forney,  Franklin,  Fuller,  Garth.  Cause, 
fibson,  Giddings,  Goode.  Gunter.  A.  H.  Hamil- 
on,  H.  H.  Harris,  J.  T.  Harris,  Harrison,  Hart, 
Jartridge,  Har*zell,  Hatcher,  Henkle,  Henry, 
1.  S.  Heicitt,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  Herbert,  Hooker, 
I'ouse,  F.  Jones,  J.  T.  Jones,  Kenna,  Kimmel, 
^nott,  Ligon,  Luttrell.  Martin,  Mayha/tn.  Mc- 
kenzie, McMahon,  Mills,  Money,  Morgan,  Mor- 
'ison,  Muldroio,  Midler,  T.  M.  Patterson, 
^helps,  C.  N.  Potter,  Pridemore,  Rea,  Reagan, 
i.  V.  Rice,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Bobbins  Sayler, 
fhelley.  Singleton.  W.  E.  Smit>>,  Southard, 
}[)a)ks,  Steele.  Stephens.  Swann,  Thttockmorton, 
'i.  W.  Toivnshend,  Tucker,  R.  B.  Vance,  Wad- 
lell,  G.  C.  Walker,  Warner.  Whitthorne,  Wig- 
infon,  A.  S.  Williams,.  J.  Williams,  A.  S. 
Villis,B.A.  WUlis,F.    Wood.    Yeales,   Young. 

Pernando  Wood's  Admissions  as  to  the  In- 
famous Intentions  of  the  Democratic 
Tariff  Policy— Proposed  Kediictiou  of 
Duties  by  his  bill  15  per  cent — Fur- 
ther Reduction  of  35  per  cent.  Contem- 
phited. 

In  order  to  see  that  the  object  of  Fer- 
ando  Wood's  tariff  bill  and  of  the  Demo- 


cratic party  is  ultimately  so  to  reduce  the 
present  rates  of  customs  duties  as  to  com- 
pletely destroy  the  principle  of  protection, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  glance  at  his  speech 
delivered  in  the  House,  April  9,  1878,  in 
support  of  that  monstrous  measure. 
Speaking  of  the  present  rates  of  duties  this 
Democratic  leader  airily  said : 

I  recognize  an  implied  moral  right  to  a  little 
longer  continuation  of  the  favor  which  they 
afford  to  the  manufacturing  interests.  The  bill 
reported  affects  them,  so  far  as  the  rates  of  duties 
are  concerned,  but  little.  Its  reductions  are 
trifling  as  compared  to  what  they  should  be, 
and  in  my  opinion  they  could  well  afford  to 
bear.  If  I  had  the  power  to  commence  de  novo 
I  should  reduce  the  duties  50  per  cent,  instead 
of  less  than  15  per  cent,  upon  an  average,  as 
now  proposed. 

Here  is  an  admission  that  his  tariff  act — 
for  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Demo- 
crats voted  so  strongly — contemplates  an 
average  reduction  of  about  15  per  cent., 
with  a  further  future  reduction  of  more 
than  twice  that  amount,  when,  if  ever, 
both  branches  of  Congress  pass  under 
Democratic  control.  The  "  little  longer 
continuation"  of  the  "favor"  of  the  15 
per  cent,  reduction  plainly  refers  to  that 
period,  should  it  eyer,  unfortunately  for 
our  manufacturing  industries  and  the  peo- 
ple who  get  their  daily  bread  by  them,  ar- 
rive. The  only  hope  then  for  our  home 
industrial  interests,  to  avoid  the  wide- 
spread ruin  not  alone  contemplated  but 
thus  directly  avowed  by  the  Democratic 
party  as  a  part  of  their  policy,  is  to  remit 
their  Congressional  candidates  to  private 
life. 

Another   Vote    Showing  the  Antipathy   of 
Democracy  to  Labor, 

Another  very  instructive  vote  was  that 
which  was  cast  in  the  House  December  1, 
1877,  than  which  nothing  could  more  for- 
cibly prove  the  real  antagonism  of  the 
Democratic  leaders  to  the  artisan,  the 
mechanic,  and  the  laborer,  and  their  dis- 
like of  that  system  of  protection  which 
the  Republican  party  has  always  afforded 
to  the  American  workingman  by  protect- 
ing the  manufacturing  interests  which 
employ  him,  against  the  foreign  manufac- 
.  turer.  At  that  date,  upon  a  resolutioa 
'  offered  by  Mr.  Mills,  a  Democrat,  instruct- 
ing the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means 
"to  so  revise  the  tariff  as  to  make  it 
purely  and  solely  a  tariff  for  revenue," 
and  not  for  protection,  the  vote  stood : 
yeas,  67;  nays,  76.  Of  the  67  yeas,  60 
were  Democratic,  and  only  7  Republican. 
Of  the  76  nays,  54  were  Republican,  and 
only  12  Democratic. 

Following  are  the  names  of  the  Demo- 
crats who  voted  for  this  anti  protective 
resolution  : 

Messrs.  H.  P.  Bell,  Bicknell,  Blackburn, 
Bland,  Boone,  Bragg,  Buckner,  J.  W.  Caldwell^ 


10 


W.  P.  Oaldwell,  J.  B.  Clark,  Jr.,  Gobh,  Oravms, 
Culbtraon,  Dibrell,  Dichey,  Douglaa^  Durhim, 
Eden,  Elam,  Felton,  Forney,  Frankhn,  Fuller, 
Oarth.  0au8c,  Giddingi,  Glover,  Qoode,  A.  H. 
Hamilton,  Hartzell,  Hatcher,  House,  J.  T.  Jonco, 
Kenna,  Knott,  Ligon,  Lu'trell,  Martin,  McKen- 
zie,  Milli,  Morrison,  Pridemore,  Reagan,  Kid- 
dle, Robertson,  Saylcr,  Scales,  Singleton.  Sle- 
mons,  W.  E.  Smith,  Springer,  Steele,  Throckmor- 
ton, R.  W.  Townahend,  Turner,  R.  B.  Vance, 
Waddell,  Whilthorne,  J.  N.  Willicims,  A.  S. 
Willis, 


PART  III. 

\ 

still     Another     Vote     Showing 

Democratic  Antagonif^m  to  tlie 

Hon   St  Worlcingnien  and  to  In- 

dnstrial  EnterprfSe;^  in  Ameri- 


November  17,  1877,  Mr.  Swann  (Dem- 
ocrat) moved  to  proceed  to  the  considera- 
tion of  House  joint  resolution  appropriat- 
ing $200,000  to  pay  expenses  necessary 
to  a  proper  exhibit  of  the  industrial  prod- 
ucts of  the  United  States  at  the  Paris  In- 
ternational Industrial  Exposition  of  1878. 

Mr.  Buckner  (Democrat)  raised  the 
question  of  consideration,  which  was  de- 
cided atfirmatively  by  144  yeas  to  123  nays. 
(See  "  McPherson's  Handbook  for  1878," 
pp.  169-170.) 

There  were  only  32  Democrats  voting 
yea,  and  111  Democrats  voting  nay.  Of 
the  Republicans  112  voted  yea  and  12  nay. 

November  20,  1877,  the  joint  resolution 

eissed  by  yeas  139,    nays   125— only  25 
emocrats  voting  yea,  and  116  Democrats 
voting  nay  ;  while  114  Republicans  voted 
yea,  and  only  9  Republicans  voted  nay. 
Following  is  the  Democratic  vote  in  op 
)Osition  to  the  resolution : 

Nays— Messrs.  Atkins,  Banning,  Beebe,  H. 
P.  Bell,  Benedict,  Bicknell,  Blackburn,  Bland. 
Blount,Boone,  Bouck,  Bragg,  Buckner,  Cabell,  J. 
W.  Caldwell,  W.  P.  Caldwell,  Candler,  Carlisle, 
Chalmers,  A.  A.  Clark,  J.  B  Clarke,  J.  B. 
Clark,  Jr.,  Clymer,  Cobb,  Collins,  Cook,  S.S.  Cox, 
Cravens,  Crittenden,  Culberson,  Davidson,  J.  J. 
Davis,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  Douglas,  Durham, 
Eden,  Elam,  Ellis,  J.  H  Evins,  Ewing,  Felton, 
E.  B.  Finlev,  Franklin,  Fuller,  Garth,  Cause, 
Giddinys,  Glover,  Goode,  Gunter,  A.  H.  Hamil- 
ton, H.  R.  Harris,  J.  T.  Harris,  Hartridge,  Hart- 
zell, Hatcher,  Herbert,  House,  Hunton,  F.  Jones, 
J.  T.  Jones.  Kenna,  Knapp,  Knott,  Ligon,  Lynde, 
Mackey,  Maish,  Manning,  Martin,  Mayham,  Mc- 
Kenzie,  McMahon,  Mills,  Money,  Morgan,  Mor- 
rison, Muldrow,  C.  N.  Potter,  Pridemore,  Quinn, 
Rea,  Reagan,  J,  B.  Reilly,  A.  V.  Rice,  Riddle, 

W.  M.  Rabbins,  Robertson,  Sayler,  Scales,  Shel- 
ley, Singleton,  Slemons,  W.  E.  Smith,  Southard, 
rrks.  Springer,  Steele,  Slenaer,  Throckmorton, 
W.  Townshend,  Tucker,  Turner,  Turney,  R. 
B.  Vance,  Waddell,  G.  C.  Walker,  Whitthorne, 
J.  Williams,  J.  N.  Williams,  A.  S.    Willis,  B. 

Wilson,  Wright,  Yeates,  Young— )25. 

November  30,  1877.— The  Senate,  after 
amending,  passed  the  House  measure,  by 
36  yeas  to    20   nays.      The    yeas   com- 


prised 27  Republicans  and  9  Democrats; 
the  nays  2  Republicans  and  18  Demo- 
crats. 

December  14,  1877. — The  House  agreed 
to  the  amendments  of  the  Senate,  by  124 
yeas  to  91  nays.  The  yeas  comprised  92 
Republicans  and  32  Democrats ;  the 
nays,  9  Republicans  and  82  Democrats. 

These  votes  show  that  the  Democrats 
were  overwhelmingly  opposed  to  such  an 
exhibit  of  American  industrial  products 
at  the  World's  Fair  as  would  be  credita- 
ble to  us  as  a  nation,  and  which  would 
bring  to  our  factories  and  to  laboring  men 
the  work  which  they  so  sadly  need.  The 
Republicans  are,  by  the  same  votes, 
shown  to  be  deeply  in  sympathy  with 
any  honest  effort  to  help  the  laboring  men  ] 
and  producers  of  the  land.  j 

Republican  sympathy  for  the  workingmen ' 
— Deraocratic  scoffs  at  the  "  Mudsills  "— 
The  free  school  system. 

The  Republican  party  has  always  be- 
lieved in  and  acted  upon  a  humanitarian 
creed.  They  have  believed  that  business 
could  be  transacted  as  correctly  by  men 
with  human  sympathies  as  by  those  who 
sneered  at  what  they  termed  "  sentiment- 
alism."  The  Democratic  leaders  have  al- 
ways scoffed  at  the  idea  that  Government 
should,  even  incidentally,  consider  the 
woes  and  suff'erings  of  the  multitude  ;  or, 
as  a  Democratic  Senator  once  termed 
them,  "the  mudsills  of  society."  The 
Republican  party  has  cherished  the  free 
school  system,  where  the  workingman's 
children  are  freely  educated,  and  thus  af- 
forded an  opportunity  of  elevating  them- 
selves in  after  life  to  place  and  power  in 
both  social  and  political  spheres.  The 
Democratic  party  has  not  been  kindly  to 
that  free  school  system. 

Democratic  nostrums  for  present  ills — 
What  workingmen  think  of  them— Re- : 
publican  efforts  to  solve  the  labor  prob- 
lem. 

Many  nostrums  are  prescribed  by  Dem- 
ocratic quacks  to  remedy  the  ills  to  which 
labor  is  s«bjec'ed  in  its  struggle  with  cap- 
ital. These  are  rejected  by  the  working- 
men  themselves.  The  Republican  party 
has  no  infallible  plan  to  propose  ;  but  it 
calls  on  the  laboring  men  themselves  to 
set  their  best  minds  to  work  to  co-operate 
with  it  in  reaching  a  true  solution  of  the 
problem,  and  to  co-operate  in  the  selection 
of  candidates  for  place  in  the  National 
Councils.  Farmers,  miners,  mechanics, 
workingmen,  and  the  sons  of  workingmen, 
have  sat  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives    by     Republican    suff'rages. 


11 


Thej  know  from  all  past  experience  that 
in  the  Republican  party,  if  they  cannot 
always  get  immediate  relief,  they  are  at 
least  certain  to  find  sincere  desire  and 
honest  eflfort  to  elevate  humanity  and  help 
the  laboring  interest. 


PART  IV. 
The  Republican  Homestead  Act 
—Democratic  Opposition  to  it — 
The  Votes  by  which  the  Repub- 
licans Secured  it  to  the  People. 
In  the  matter  of  homesteads  the  Repub- 
lican party  has  been  a  benefactor  to  the 
poor  man,  while  the  Democratic  party  has 
either  opf»sed  or  given  a  half  and  half 
support.  The  homestead  act  of  1862  was 
one  of  the  wisest  and  most  beneficent  of 
measures.  Prior  to  that  year  the  system 
of  selling  large  tracts  of  our  public  lands 
to  speculators  and  non-residents  had  pre- 
vailed. This  policy  was  declared  by  a 
Republican  to  be  '  'the  direst  curse  which 
has  ever  been  inflicted  on  the  West,  and 
has  done  more  to  retard  the  growth  and 
improvement  of  that  section  of  our  coun- 
try than  all  other  causes  combined." 
Those  evils  being  recognized  by  the  na- 
tion, the  loyal  States  by  unparalleled  Re- 
publican majorities  declared  that  they 
should  cease  to  exist.  By  the  votes  of 
Republican  Representatives  in  the  Re- 
publican House,  by  Republican  National 
and  State  platforms,  by  Republican 
pledges,  over  and  over  again,  the  people 
had  demanded  such  a  measure.  Several 
times  before  1862  it  had  passed  the  Re- 
publican House,  only  to  be  strangled  in 
the  Democratic  Senate.  But  now  the 
time  had  come  when  something  could  be 
done  for  the  actual  settler  upon  our  pub- 
lic lands.  The  Executive  office  and  both 
branches  of  Congress  were  now  controlled 
by  Republicans,  who  bad  pledged  them- 
selves to  do  what  the  actual  settler 
asked — the  following  being  the  words  of 
of  that  pledge  : 

I  Resolved,  That  we  protest  against  any  sale  or 
alienation  to  others  of  the  public  lands  held  by 
Ectual  settlers,  and  against  any  view  of  the 
free  homestead  policy,  which  regards  the  set- 
tlers as  paupers  or  supplicants  for  public 
bounty;  and  we  demand  the  passage  by  Con- 
gress of  the  complete  and  satisfactory  home- 
stead measure,  which  has  alre'^dy  passed  the 
House.— AS'ee  Chicago  Platform,  1860. 

The  Republicans  being  thus  in  full  con- 
trol of  the  Legislative  and  Executive 
branches  of  the  Government,  accordingly, 
early  in  1862,  pressed  through  both  Houses 
the  well  known  Homestead  act,  which  has 


been  such  a  blessing  to  our  people  and 
our  country.  It  grants  160  acres  to  every 
actual  settler  21  years  or  more  of  age,  or 
head  of  a  family  who  is,  or  has  declared 
his  intention  to  become,  a  citizen.  That 
is  its  main  feature,  independent  of  the 
grant  of  160  acres  to  every  person,  whether 
naturalized  or  not,  and  whether  of  age  or 
not,  who  enlisted  in  the  military  service  to 
crush  the  rebellion. 

This  noble  Republican  provision  for  ac- 
tual settlers  met  with  considerable  Demo- 
cratic opposition  in  1862  before  it  could 
be  put  upon  the  statute  book. 

The  vote  by  which  it  passed  the  House, 
February  28,  1862,  was  114  yeas  to  18 
nays.  Of  the  yeas  there  were  92  Repub- 
licans and  22  Democrats,  a  proportion  of 
over  4  Republicans  to  1  Democrat  in  favor 
of  the  bill;  of  the  nays  there  were  3  Re- 
publicans and  15  Democrats,  a  proportion 
of  5  Democrats  to  1  Republican  against 
the  bill. 

The  vote  by  which  it  passed  the  Senate 
May  6,  1862,  was  even  more  significant. 

It  stood,  yeas  33  to  nays  7.  Of  the  yeas 
30  were  Republican  to  3  Democratic ;  of 
the  nays  6  were  Democratic  to  1  Repub- 
lican. Thus  the  vote  showed  a  propor- 
tion of  10  Republicans  to  1  Democrat  in 
favor  of  the  Homestead  bill,  and  6  Dem- 
ocrats to  1  Republican  opposed  to  it. 

Had  they  the  power  of  numbers  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  the  Democrats 
would  have  killed  the  Homestead  act  of 
1862,  as  they  had  done  in  previous  years 
to  similar  measures. 

Extending    the     Homestead    Act— Demo- 
cratic Opposition  and  Votes. 

In  the  House,  February  8, 1866,  a  bill  was 
passed  extending  the  provisions  of  the 
Homestead  act  to  the  States  of  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and 
Florida.  The  vote  by  which  it  passed  was 
112  yeas  to  29  nays — all  the  nays  being 
Democrats  except  two.  The  names  of 
these  Democrats  are: 

T.  G.  Bergen,  B.  M.  Boyer,  James 
Brooks,  John  W.  Chanler,  John  L.  Daw- 
son, Chas.  A.  Eldridge,  Wm.  E.  Finck, 
A.  J.  Glossbrenner,  Charles  Goodyear, 
Henry  Grider,  Aaron  Harding,  B.  G. 
Harris,  John  Hogan,  Jas.  M.  Humphrey, 
Michael  G.  Kerr,  F.  C.  LeBlond,  Samuel 
S.  Marshall,  John  A.  Nicholson,  Samuel 
J.  Randall.  A.  J.  Rogers,  George  S. 
Shanklin,  Chas.  Sitgreaves,  Myer  Strouse, 
Stephen  Tdber,  Nelson  Taylor,  Anthony 
Thornton,  and  Daniel  W.  Voorhees. 


CHAPTER  III. 
Southern  Claims. 


PAKT  I. 

|>300,000,000  of  Soutkeru  Pn  - 
lie  and  Private  Claiins  for  Cot- 
ton, War  ^Material,  €a  t«re<l 
and  Abaiidanetl  Property,  ete. 

The  New  York  Tribune  of  April  13, 
1878,  eaya : 

The    Tribune  has  already  published  a  com- 

?)lete  list  of  all  bills  introduced  in  Congress 
rom  tbe  beginning  of  the  session  down  to 
March  18  for  tbe  purpose  of  securing  public 
improvements  in  the  South.  These  public 
claims  reach  tbe  enormous  aggregate  of  $192,- 
tOO.OOO.  The  Tribune  has  since  caused  to  be 
prepared  a  complete  list  of  all  bills  introduced 
in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
from  the  l-eginning  of  the  session  down  to 
March  26,  presenting  private  claims.  Of  these 
there  are  nine  hundred  and  eight,  of  which 
four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  ask  for  sums 
less  than  §10,000.  These  four  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  bills,  there  is  not  space  to  print 
in  full,  but  their  total  is  61.010,000.  Of  the  re- 
maining four  hundred  and  thirty-one  private 
bills,  three  hundred  and  tiventy— more  than 
one-third  of  the  whole  number  introduced— 
are  altogether  vague,  neither  stating  nor  hint- 
ing at  the  amount  to  which  claim  is  made. 
This  very  vagueness  is  suspicious,  and  suggests 
the  magnitude  of  the  sum  expected.  It  is  cer- 
tainly fair,  however,  to  suppose  that  the  aver- 
age amount  of  these  indefinite  claims  is  at  least 
as  large  as  those  asking  for  a  definite  sum. 
Upon  this  basis  the  aggregate  of  these  three 
hundred  and  twenty  blind  asking  claims  is 
$3,500,000.  There  are  one  hundred  and  eleven 
bills  asking  for  $10,000  or  more  each,  making  an 
aggregate  of  S5,747,793.  The  least  amount, 
therefore,  asked  for  by  private  Southern  claims 
introduced  in  Congress  from  the  beginning  of 
the  session  to  March  26.  is  $10,247,793.  The 
bills  introduced  down  to  March  18  for  public 
improvements  in  the  South  call  for  ^192.000,000. 
The  South,  therefore,  thus  far  in  a  single  ses- 
sion, has  made  demands  upon  the  National 
Treasury  for  at  least  §202,000.000. 
Judge  Bartley's  Figures  Compared  with 
those  of  the  Tribune. 

That  this  estimate  is  far  below  the  actual 
amount  for  which  the  South  has  asked,  the 
counsel  for  a  large  nuaber  of  claimants  has 
already  taken  pains  t©  prove.  Judge  T.  W. 
Bartley  has  published  in  a  Washington  paper 
a  long  letter  in  regard  to  three  large  classes  of 
claims  now  before  Congress.  He  divides  these  j 
claims  into  three  principal  classes  and  makes 
the  following  estimates: 

■  Amount  of  cotton  tax„ S83,000,000 

Balance  of  captured  and  abandoned 

property 14,000,000 

Army  supply  claims 20,000.000 


Grand  total 8117,000,000 

If  Judge  Bartley's  figures  are  taken  in  the 


place  of  the  quiet  and  modest  estimates  which 
the  Trilnme  has  made,  the  aggregate  (1)  of  the- 
claims  for  railroads  and  oth-r  public  improve- 
ments, and  (2)  of  private  claims  for  cotton,  war 
material,  captured  and  abandoned  property, 
Ac.  will  be  more  than  ^300,000,000,  instead  of 
$202,000,010. 

The  list  of  private  claims  presented  in  each 
House,  exclusive  of  those  in  which  the  sum 
specified  is  less  than  $i0.000,  is  presented  here- 
with : 

Here  follows  the  long  list,  giving  the 
number  of  each  bill,  its  introducer,  its 
title,  and  the  amount  asked  for  by  claim- 
ant— for  which,  in  full,  see  speech  in  tbe  I 
House  May  1,  1878,  made  by  Hon.  Philip 
C.  Hayes,  of  Wisconsin.  It  ends  with 
the  following 

RECAPITULATION. 

Sum  of  House  bills  asking  for  SIO.OOO 
or  more $4,926,793 

Sum  of  Sena':e  bills  asking  for 
$10,000  or  more 821,000. 

Total 5/747,.  793 

Sum  of  amounts  less  than  $10,000 1,010.000 

Total  of  amounts  carried  out 6,757,793 

Least  sum  to  be  added  for  blanks 3,500,000 

Least  sum  called  for  by  private  bills.  10,257,793 
Total  amount  of  public  claims 192,000,000 

Grand  total  of  Southern  claims 202.000,0  0 

Approximate  grand  total  on  the 
basis  of  Judge  Bartley's  esti- 
mates of  private  claims 300,000.000 

PAKT  II. 

Rebel  Claiuifs  Demanded  as  a 
Matter  of  *•  Justice  and  Riglit" 
—All  Property  Destroyed  by 
botb  Armies  Mnst  be  Paid  For 
— DeiKiand  tbat  Rebel  Sloldiers 
or  their  Heirs  **  be  Paid  in 
Ronds  or  Public  liands  for 
tbeir  liost  Time,  I^imbs,  and 
liives !" 

In  his  speech,  above  alluded  to,  Mr. 
Hayes,  after  quoting  the  aforesaid  list, 
says  : 

*  *  *  *  Here  are  demands  made  upon  us 
for  over  $300,000,000.  Doubtless  many  of  these 
claims  are  just  and  should  be  al'owed.  but  the 
great  majority  of  them  are  not  entitled  to  even 
a  hearing.  *  *  *  *  Having  shown  the  mag- 
nitude of  these  claims,  I  wish  to  say  that  the 
general  sentiment  throughout  the  South  is  that 


13 


)  elaime  ought  to  be  paid.  Indeed,  sir,  the 
outhern  people  seem  determined  that  they 
lall  be  paid.  *  *  *  *  As  a  matter  of  policy 
le  leaders  in  the  South  will  tell  you  that  they 
0  not  expect  payment,  but  when  they  talk  as 
ley  feel  you  will  find  that  nine  out  of  every 
3n  of  them  hold  to  the  idea  that  the  Govern- 
lent,  if  it  had  any  respect  for  justice,  would 
ave  paid  these  claims  long  ago.  Why,  sir,  the 
iea  that  the  Government  owes  and  ought  to 
ay  all  damages  occasioned  by  the  war  through- 
ut  the  South  is  so  firmly  imbedded  in  the 
outhern  mind  that  it  will  take  several  gene- 
ations  to  root  it  out.  No  man,  I  care  not  how 
reat  his  ability,  can  be  a  leader  among  the 
outhern  people  unless  he  openly  indorses  this 
iea.  Tbere  is  no^  a  Southern  gentleman  on 
bis  floor  who  would  not  be  overwhelmingly 
ei'eated  at  the  coming  election  if  he  should 
are  to  stand  up  here  and  declart,  that  these 
laims  ought  not  to  be  paid.  *  *  *  *  jjo 
an  can  be  elected  to  any  ofiB.ce  in  that 
setion  who  dares  to  proclaim  himself  op- 
osed  to  paying  these  Southern  claims.  Men 
ho  expect  to  succeed  politically  must  be  in 
armony  with  thair  people  in  this  respect. 
*  *  *  They  hold  to  the  idea  that  the  Gov- 
rnment  is  under  obligation  to  pay  them  They 
0  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the  claims  for  cap 
ared  and  abandoned  property  and  for  private 
roperty  taken  by  the  Union  army  in  the  way 
f  supplies  constitute  a  part  of  the  war  debt  of 
be  nation. 

udge  Bax'tley's  "  little  pamphlet "  again— 
Rebel  forage  claims,  &c-,  "as  just  and 
valid  a  lien  upon  the  Treasury  as  the 
bonded  debt  itselfr' — only  more  so. 

Indeed,  Judge  Bart'ey.  whose  little  pamphlet 
ras  distributed  so  freely  among  members  of 
bis  body  a  few  days  ago,  argues  that  the  prop- 
rty  taken  for  the  subsistence  of  the  Union 
rmy  saved  the  Government  from  raising 
loney  on  the  sale  of  its  bonds  in  the  sums  rep- 
esented  by  the  value  of  the  property  seized 
nd  used,  and  that  the  claims  for  the  payment 
jrthis  property  are  as  just  and  as  valid  a  lien 
pon  the  Treasury  as  the  bonded  debt  itself.  In 
let,  he  thinks  they  should  take  precedence  of 
be  bonded  debt  in  equity,  because  that  debt 
raws  interest,  while  the  claims  do  not.  The 
udge  presents  his  case  in  the  strongest  light 
■ossible,  and  closes  his  pamphlet  of  twenty 
ages  with|,the  following  sigoificant  paragraph: 
The  foregoing  views  are  expressed  on  mature 
onsideration  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  several 
undred  citizens  of  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Ar- 
ansas, and  Texas,  represented  by  the  under- 
gned  as  their  counsel.  The  positions  assumed 
an  and  will  be  maintained  and  cannot  be  sue- 
sssfully  controverted  in  or  out  of  Congress.  If 
le  plain  language  used  is  expressive  of  some 
»eling,  it  arises  simply  from  a  deep  sense  of 
le  wrong  and  injustice  done  to  injured  parties, 
nd  is  not  intended  to  be  discourteous,  but  in 
11  due  deference  and  respectful  regard  for  the 
ublic  authorities." 

►r.  J,  F.  Foard's  pamphlet— The  wounds 
if  the  war— The  easiest  and  best  way  to 
heal  them  is  to  compensate  those  who 
lost  so  much  ia  the  conflict!" 

Only  a  few  days  ago  I  received  a  pamphlet 
'ritten  by  Dr.  J,  F  Foard,  of  North  Carolina, 
\  which  the  writer  discusses  this  subject  at 
)me  length,  declaring  that  the  Government 
lould  pay  these  claims  as  a  matter  of  justice 
ad  right.  After  devoting  several  pages  to  set- 
ng  forth  the  losses  sustained  by  the  Southern 
eople,  he  uses  these  words  :  "The  easiest  and 
est  way  to  heal  them  "—the  wounds  made  by 
le  war—"  is  to  compensate  those  who  lost  so 


much  in  the  conflict."    In  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter hs  says  : 

"Let  us  go  at  this  work  promptly,  earnestly, 
and  honestly,  that  it  may  be  as  a  monument  of 
truth  and  justice,  erected  in  the  hearts  of  our  . 
children  to  remind  them  of  the  importance  of 
national  honor,  peace,  and  good  will." 

Southera  Memorial  to  pay  all  rebel  losses 
in  3  per  cent.  100  year  bonds!— liost 
time,  lost  limbs,  lost  lives,  all  to  be  paid 
for  to  make  up  for  the  "I.ost  Cause." 

The  last  page  of  his  (Foard's)  book  con- 
tains the  following,  which  will  be  read 
with  great  interest,  especially  by  the 
Union  men  of  the  North  : 

That  co-operative  action  be  had  in  this 
matter,  a  form  of  a  memorial  to  Congress  is 
appended  to  these  pages.  Let  every  one  who 
f&els  an  interest  in  the  great  work  copy  and  ob- 
tain tbe  signatures  of  his  neighbors  to  it,  and 
inclose  it  to  one  of  our  Senators  or  Representa- 
tives in  Congress  as  early  as  practicable,  and 
urge  its  adoption: 

Form  of  a  Memorial  to  Congrkss  . 

State  of , 

County  of , ,  187  . 

To  the  honorable  Senators  and  Members  of  the 

House  of  Bepresentativea  of  the  United  States 

in  Congress  assembled: 

We,  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  most 
respectfully  petition  your  honorable  bodies  to 
enact  a  law  by  which  all  citizens  of  every  sec- 
tion of  the  United  States  may  be  paid  for  all 
their  property  destroyed  for  them  by  the  gov- 
ernments and  armies  of  both  sides  during  the 
lat«  war  between  the  States,  in  bonds  bearing 
3  per  cent,  interest  per  annum,  maturing  with- 
in the  next  hundred  years. 

And  we  also  petition  that  all  soldiers,  or  their 
legal  representatives,  of  both  armies  and  every 
section,  be  paid  in  bonds  or  public  laiid>i  for 
their  lost  time,  limbs,  and  lives,  while  engaged 
in  the  late  unfortunate  civil  conflict.  And  we 
will  ever  pray. 

PAKT  III. 

A  Specimen  Brick  of  iSoattiern 
Claims— Its  Bo^us  character 
and  Wonderful  Orowth. 

To  show  how  some  of  these  Southern 
claims  are  made  up,  the  following  "speci- 
men brick"  is  given  from  the  New  York 
Tribune  of  July  4,  1878  : 

WASHijfGTOX,  July  3.— The  following  claim 
is  given  as  a  specimen  product  of  one  of  the 
great  industries  of  the  section  of  country  which 
was  lately  in  rebellion:  In  1873  Mrs.  Eliza  He- 
ber  appeared  before  the  Southern  Claims  Com- 
mission, in  this  city,  with  a  bill  of  lessee  and 
damage'  alleged  to  have  occurred  on  her  plan- 
tation at  or  near  Indian  Village,  Piaquemine 
Parish,  La.,  while  occupied  by  the  troops  of 
General  Payne.  She  alleged  that  that  ofiBcer 
took  from  herfor  theuseof  his  men  and  allowed 
to  be  destroyed  property  as  enumerated  in  the 
following  list : 

8,001  bbls.  corn,  at  S1.50  per  bbl $12,000 

100  chickens,  at  $1  each 100 

200  turkeys,  at  $2  each 400 

30  hogs,  at  SIO  each 360 

8  oxen,  at  $50 400 

5  horses,  at  $160 800 

4  mules,  at  $125 500 

Unknown  quantity  of  lumber,  consisting 
of  hogshead-staves,  picket?  and  posts...    5,000 


14 


coo  cords  of  wood.  att6per  oord 3,000 

Making  a  total  of. 622,500 

After  filing  the  claims  Mrs.  Heber  presented 
the  affidavits  of  several  colored  persons,  who, 
not  being  able  to  write,  made  their  marks  as 
signatures  to  the  statements  which  they  con- 
tained. The  comraissionors,  having  doubts 
about  the  validity  and  honesty  of  the  claim, 
sent  an  agent  to  Plaquemine  parish  to  investi- 
gate the  matter.  lie  reported  that  the  claim 
was  fictitious  and  fraudulent,  and  the  claimant 
took  no  further  steps  in  regard  to  prosecuting 
the  claim  before  the  commission.  Later,  when 
the  Democrats  obtained  control  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Mrs.  Heber  appeared  with 
her  claim  before  that  body,  but  in  the  mean- 
time it  had  grown  to  $47,975,  with  items  enu- 
merated as  follows : 

8,000  bbls.  corn,  at  82  50  per  barrel $20,000 

1,500  cords  wood  at  $4.66%  per  cord 7.000 

1  lot  of  lumber,  staves,  pickets,  &c lO,000 

1  pair  carriage  horses  at  $500  each 1,000 

3  riding  hoses  at  $300 900 

4  mules  at  $300 1.200 

30  hogs  at  $30 900 

5  choice  milch  cows 375 

20  head  of  cattle 501 

1  lot  of  poultry 100 

Fencing  and  plantation  destroyed 6,oOo 

Total. $47,975 

During  the  secorfd  session  of  the  Forth-fifth 
Congress  John  W.  Caldwell,  from  the  Commit- 
tee on  War  Claims,  in  the  House,  to  which  com- 
mittee this  claim  had  been  referred,  submitted 
a  report  to  accompany  House  bill  3293,  saying 
"that  Mrs.  Eliza  Heber  should  be  paid  as  full 
compensation  for  all  her  claims  for  the  property 
and  supplies  taken  and  used  as  aforesaid  the 
sum  of  $23,150,"  and  the  committee  reported  a 
bill  for  that  purpose,  and  recommended  its  pas- 
sage. The  principal  proof  in  support  of  this 
claim  was  in  affidavits  made  by  the  same  per- 
sons who  had  testified  before  the  Southern 
Claims  Commission.  The  fictitious  character  of 
the  claim  was  made  known  to  Secretary  Sher- 
man by  the  ofiicers  of  the  secret  service,  and  he 
directed  that  efibrts  be  made  to  prevent  its  pas- 
sage in  the  House.  An  agent  of  the  Govern- 
ment was  sent  to  Indian  Village,  the  residence 
of  Mrs.  Heber,  and  took  the  affidavits  of  seve- 
ral respectable  citizens,  all  of  whom  testified 
that  the  claim  was  dishonest;  that  Mrs.  Heber 
did  not  own  more  than  forty  acres  of  land,  and 
that  only  one  half  of  that  could  be  cultivated, 
as  the  remainder  was  under  water  most  of  the 
time.  General  Payne  said  that  he  was  in  com- 
mand of  less  than  2,000  infantry,  and  was  en- 
camped only  two  weeks  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
claimant.  He  said  that  it  would  have  been  an 
utter  impossibility  for  his  men  in  the  warm  cli- 
mate of  Louisiana  to  have  burned  1,500  cords  of 
wood  or  to  have  consumed  20,000  bushels  of  corn. 
The  bill  is  still  before  the  House. 

PAKT  IV. 

.^400,000,000  more— €oinpenisa- 

tion  for  Slaves2I>eiuaiiflecl. , 

The  South  is  determined  to  have  com- 
peusation  for  its  emancipated  sla/^es  to 
the  tune  of  $400,000,000.  One  of  the 
latest  utterances  on  the  subject  is  tbat  of 
the  Macon  (Ga.)  Telegraph  and  Messen- 
ger— aleadiugorgan  in  thecottoa  States — 
as  follows : 

Those  slaves  were  not  cannon  and  bayonets 
and  armed  foes  in  the  late  so  called  rebellion, 
and  in  no  sense  '*  contraband."  They  were  our 
property,  solemnly  and  specifically  recognized 


as  such,  and  duly  protected  and  guaranteed  br 
that  Constitution  and  Union  which  our  adver- 
saries alleged  they  took  up  arms  to  maintain 
and  keep  intact  and  defend.  Moreover,  they 
took  no  part  in  that  fratricidal  struggle,  davo 
when  forced  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  invader 
and  wage  war  against  their  best  friends  and 
benefactors.    On   the    banditti  principle   that 

might  makes  right,"  and  to  the  "victor  be- 
longs the  spoils  "  onlv,  therefore,  can  this  rob- 
bery of  an  impoverished  people  be  justified 

We  cannot  but  indulge  the  hope  that  when 
we  have  helped  to  extinguish  the  public  debt 
and  time  has  healed  the  gaping  wounds  of  the 

East,  when  reason  and  brotherly  love  sha'l 
ave  fully  gained  the  ascendancy  over  preju- 
dice and  hate,  even  though  it  shall  be  the  next 
generation,  a  brave  and  honorable  people  of 
the  same  blood  and  lineage  will  see  to  it  that 
the  value  of  our  property  in  slaves  shall  be  re- 
turned to  those  from  whom  it  was  wrongfully 
wrested.  It  will  do  no  harm  to  keep  this  ques- 
tion before  the  people,  that  they  may  preserve 
the  records  and  proper  memoranda  of  their 
former  slaves,  in  the  event  that  a  returning 
sense  of  justice  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment may  compensate  them,  at  least  in 
part,  for  the  loss  of  this  portion  of  their  right- 
ful property. 


PAET  y. 

A  Brief  Review  of  Some  of  the 
Rebel  Claims— Direct  Tax— Cot- 
ton Tax— Special  Relief— Des- 
truction of  Property— Compen- 
sation for  Slaves— Rebel  Mail 
Contractors,  <fcc— They  Already 
Reach  Three  Thousand  Mil- 
lions of  Dollars— "Where  will 
It  End  ?" 

In  a  letter  as  late  as  October  31,  1873, 
but  published,  we  believe  in  1876,  R.  M. 
T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  an  United  Statea 
Senator  from  that  State  prior  to  the  re- 
bellion, and  now,  as  then,  a  great  man  in 
the»  Confederacy,  elaborates  a  plan  by 
which  the  old  slaveholder  may  #vade  the 
prohibitory  clause  of  the  fourteenth 
amendment  respecting  indemnity  for 
slaves  liberated   by   the  war. 

How  Hunter  Proposes  to  Get  Ai'ound  the 
Fovirteeiith  Amendment  and  Beimburs  e 
the  Old  Slaveholders  for  the  Loss  of 
their  Slaves— $400,000,000. 

Hunter's  sagacity  is  only  equalled  by 
his  loyalty.  The  fourteenth  amendment 
abolishes  an  "institution"  of  the  Confed- 
eracy. It  expels  the  last  vestige  of  sla- 
very from  its  soil  and  prohibits  all  com- 
pensation for  slaves  freed  by  the  war. 
But  the  astute  Hunter  discovers  that  the 
prohibitory  clause  is  unconstitutional,  and. 
therefore  nugatory.  The  slaves  were  pri- 
vate property  ;  their  forcible  emancipa- 
tion was  in  the  nature  of  seizing  that 
property  for  public  use  without  compen- 
sation ;  that  the  claim  is  in  the  individual 
owner  ;  that  the  States  in  the  ratification 


15 


of  the  fourteenth  amendment,  had  no 
power  or  right  to  divert  it,  and  that  con- 
sequently the  owners  of  that  property  un- 
der the  Constitution  have  valid  or  bona 
fide  claims  for  reasonable  compensation, 
to-wit— $400,000,000. 

Maryland  Formally  Asserts  Her  Claim  for 
Such  Compensation— Other  Slave  States 
Have  Official  Ijists  of  Slaves,  Only  Await- 
ing Democratic  Ascendancy. 
But  a  discovery  so  sagacious  was  not 
original  with  the  astute  Hunter.  As  early 
as  1867,  in  the  Maryland  constitutional 
convention,  he  was  anticipated  by  the 
equally  sapient  conventionists.  They  for- 
mally asserted  the  claim  under  the  con- 
stitution. They  authorized  the  Legislature 
of  Maryland  to  receive  and  dispose  of  the 
amounts  due  to  their  old  slaveholding 
citizens  when  paid  by  the  United  States, 
and  notoriously,  in  that  as  in  other  of  the 
old  slaveholding  States,  lists  of  the  slaves 
emancipated  have  been  prepared,  and 
the  claims  covering  their  value  only 
await  for  their  payment  the  harvest  of 
wholesale  plunder  when  the  Democracy 
shall  pass  into  power. 

Tlie  Missouri  "Climax  of  Rapacity"— Claim- 
ants  Fui'nished    Official    Certificates    of 
Liosses     by     Rebel     Raids— Democracy, 
When  in  Power  Will  jiay  them. 
But  in  Missouri  the  climax  of  rapacity 
in  proposed  plunder  has  been  reached.  It 
is,  however,  only  preliminary — only  a  pre- 
cedent— for  further  wholesale  or  general 
spoliation.     In  Missouri,  a  State  commis- 
sion has  investigated  and  official  certifi- 
cates have  been  awarded  to  all  claimants 
for  compensation  for  losses  incurred   or 
supplies  taken  by  the  rebel  forces  which 
overran  its  territory,  and  these  certificates, 
as   the  claims   for  indemnity  for  slaves, 
only  await  the  success  of  the  Democracy 
to  be  promptly  honored  by  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Bills  already  introduced  in  Cong^ress  as 
precedents  for  these  monstrous  claims. 
Indeed,  as  precedents  for  their  pay- 
ment, two  bills,  in  the  Forty-fourth  Con- 
gress, were  introduced  by  Messrs.  Knott, 
of  Kentucky,  and  House,  of  Tennessee, 
appropriating  small  amounts  for  property 
and  supplies  seized  by  the  rebel  forces, 
and  if  they  are  passed  or  recognized  by 
Congress,  and  should  the  nation  be  again 
inflicted  with  a  Democratic  Administra- 
tion, Missouri  and  every  State  South  will 
realize  the  prodigious  amounts  these 
claims  will  involve. 

The  Aggregate  of  Rebel  claims,  thus  far 
known,  $3,985,554,837. 

What  amount  these    Missouri    claims 
have  reached  we  do  not  know,  but  the 


known  aggregate  so  far  of  rebel  claims 
actually  presented  or  demanded  is  really 
appalling!  Already  it  equals  $2,985,554,- 
827,  to  wit: 

Refunding  direct  tax  of  1861 S2,492,ll(> 

Refunding  cotton  tax,  principal 
and  interest 170,180.220 

Special  relief  bills  (Forty-fourth 
Congress) 2,181.497 

Use  and  destruction  of  property, 
and  supplies  destroyed  or  used 
by  Union  forces  in  the  Confeder- 
ate States  2,410.326,000 

Compensation  for  slaves 400,000,000 

Payment  of  rebel  mail-contractors 
up  to  July  1. 1861 375.000 

$2,985,554,827 
In  round  numbers  $3,000,000,000  !     A 
prodigious    sum,    and     still    increasing ! 
Where  will  it  end? 


PART   VI. 
Claim  of  the  College  of  William 
and  Mary— One  of  the  Entering 
Wedges. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Octo- 
ber 29,  1877,  Mr.  Goode,  (Democrat,)  of 
Virginia,  introduced  the  following  bill : 

Be  it  enacted,  &c..  That  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  and 
directed  to  pay  to  the  College  of  William  and 
Mary,  in  Virginia,  the  sum  of  $65,000,  out  of 
any  moneys  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  ap- 
propriated, to  reimburse  said  college  for  the 
destruction  of  its  buildings  and  other  property 
destroyed  without  authority  by  disorderly  sol- 
diers of  the  United  States  during  the  late  war  : 
Provided,  That  no  moneys  be  so  paid  except 
upon  accounts  of  such  destruction,  and  the 
damage  caused  thereby,  duly  verified  and 
proven. 

The  bill  was  read  twice,  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Education  and  Labor,  and 
December  5,  1877,  was  committed  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole.  There  was 
considerable  debate  upon  this  bill,  and  it 
became  evident  that  the  ex- Confederate 
element  were  determined  to  force  it 
through. 

Considerations    of  Party  Policy 

induced  a  postponement  of  the  measure 
until  after  the  Congressional  elections,  as 
it  was  feared  by  the  Democrats  that  further 
discussion  at  that  time  would  bring  defeat 
to  them  in  the  close  districts.  Frantic 
appeals  were  made  to  the  "Southern 
brethren"  not  at  this  time  to  press  the 
bill,  and  Bragg,  a  Democratic  Representa- 
tive from  Wisconsin,  in  a  speech  deliv- 
ered May  1,  1878,  (see  Congressional 
Record^)  entreated  them  thus  : 

A    Northern    Democrat's     Prayer   to  tlie 
Kebs. 

I  appeal  to  my  Southern  friends  on  this  side 
of  the  House,  will  you  deliberately  rake  the 
ashes  off  the  slumbering  embers,  and  fan  them 


16 


into  a  blaze  a«ain  ?  I  believe  in  my  heart  you 
will  not.  But  I  am  bound  to  toll  you,  and  I 
do  it  in  kindness.  *  *  *  The  people  of  the 
North  will  never  submit  to  be  taxed  to  reim- 
burse your  people  or  your  States  out  of  the 
National  Treasury  for  any  losses  that  they 
sustained,  directly  or  indireotly,  from  the  re- 
bellion. *  *  *  There  may  be  men  in  the 
North— their  voice  has  been  heard  on  this  floor 
speaking  words  of  encouragement  to  you  in 
presenting  claims  like  this  one  for  reimburse- 
ment :  but  it  is  no  true  expression  of  Northern 
sentiment:  thoy  are  the  words  of  a  siren  that 
lures  to  death.  You  heard  them  and  trusted 
them  in  1860  and  1861:  will  you  trust  them 
acain  now  ? 

Bragg  Shows  up  the  Rebel-Breeding  Re- 
belliou-helping  College . 

He  showed,  plainly  enough,  too,  that 
the  act  of  destruction  was  perpetrated  by 
rebel  soldiers,  not  by  those  of  the  Union  ; 
that  it  was  settled  by  an  American  Con- 
gress in  1797  "that  the  loss  of  houses, 
and  other  sufferings  by  the  general  rav- 
ages of  war,  have  never  been  compen- 
sated by  this  or  any  other  Government," 
("  American  State  Papers,"  Claims,  page 
199,)  and  that,  in  any  event,  "the  Col- 
lege of  William  and  Mary  forfeited  any 
right  which  she  may  have  had  as  an  edu- 
cational institution  sacred  from  the  touch 
of  war,  by  becoming  herself  an  engine  of 
war,  an  active  participant  in  the  rebellion. 
She  not  only  sent  her  pupils  to  the  red 
field  of  battle  with  words  of  encourage- 
ment and  blessing,  but  she  banished  the 
muses  from  her  groves,  threw  wide  open 
her  gates,  and  made  her  venerable  halls 
barracks  for  soldiery  to  destroy  the  Gov- 
ernment from  which  now  in  all  humility 
she  asks  recompense.  I  do  not  state  this 
too  strongly  ;  the  report  shows  that  before 
the  footsteps  of  a  Northern  soldier  dark- 
ened her  halls  they  had  been  converted 
into  barracks  and  a  hospital  in  aid  of  the 
rebellion.  The  learned  faculty  cannot 
plead  ignorance  of  consequences  in  case 
of  failure,  but  they  never  counted  failure 
among  the  possibilities." 

**  PoUcy,  Me  Boy,  Policy "— "  The  Good 
Time  Coming"  livhen  Democrats-  like 
Bragg  will  be  Kicked. 

When  a  Northern  Democrat  like  Bragg 
felt  impelled  to  talk  to  his  Southern  friends 
in  this  manner,  it  became  evident  enough 
that  the  vote  must  be  postponed  until  after 
the  fall  elections.  On  the  10th  of  May, 
therefore,  Mr.  Goode  moved  that  the  bill 
be  passed  over,  and  after  persistent  ques- 
tioning stated  that  he  did  not  expect  to 
press  the  bill  any  further  at  that  session. 
This  means  that  it  will  come  up  next  ses- 
sion, and  that  then  it  will  pass — unless 
the  people  rebuke  the  Democratic  party 
at  the  polls.  Bragg — who  was  it  declared 
that  "  Brag  is  a  good  dog  ?" — had  a  clear 


comprehension  of  the  scope  of  this  inof- 
fensive-looking bill  when  he  exclaimed, 
in  the  same  speech  : 

It  matters  not  if  I  am  called  a  bigot  or  fana- 
tic, I  maintain  that  this  bill  is  a  crafty  device 
to  foist  upon  us  Southern  war  claims  as  skill- 
fully planned  and  as  certain  in  results  as  the 
woodon  horse  that  carried  woe  and  ruin  within 
the  walls  of  far-famed  Troy. 

The  auiountproposed  to  be  given  is  not  large, 
but  the  shadow  it  casts  before  it  is  large  enough 
to  darken  the  land. 

A  scattering  Northern  Democrat,  like 
Bragg,  here  and  there,  will  of  course  be 
absolutely  powerless  to  resist  the  behests 
of  a  Democratic  caucus,  controlled  by 
Southern  men ;  and  the  only  safety  is  to 
elect  a  Republican  majority  in  the  next 
House  of  Representatives. 


PAKT  YII. 
Fraudulent  Claimii  of  S^ontbern 
9Iail  Contractors  —  How  the 
Democrats  Strove  to  Steal  One 
million  Dollars,  and  How  tlire 
Republicans  Stopped  the  Steal 
—Propositions  and  Votes  in 
Both  Houses. 

Until  recently  the  following  section  of 
the  Revised  Statutes  has  been  a  national 
breastwork  against  which  the  horde  of 
rebel  claimants  dashed  in  vain  : 

Section  3480.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any 
oflScer  to  pay  any  account,  claim  or  demand 
against  the  United  States  which  accrued  or  ex- 
isted prior  to  the  13th  day  of  April,  1861,  in 
favor  of  any  person  who  promoted,  encouraged, 
or  in  any  manner  sustained  the  late  rebellion, 
or  in  favor  of  any  person  who,  during  such  re- 
bellion, was  not  known  to  be  opposed  thereto, 
and  distinctly  in  favor  of  its  suppression  ;  and 
no  pardon  heretofore  granted,  or  hereafter  to 
be  granted  shall  authorize  the  payment  of  such 
account,  claim,  or  demand,  until  this  section  is 
modified  or  repealed.  But  this  section  shall 
not  be  so  construed  to  prohibit  the  payment  of 
claims  founded  upon  contracts  made  by  any  of 
the  Departments,  where  such  claims  were  as- 
signed or  contracted  to  be  assigned  prior  to  the 
1st  day  of  April,  1861,  to  the  creditors  of  such 
contractors,  loyal  citizens  of  loyal  States,  in 
payment  of  debts  incurred  prior  to1;he  1st  day 
ofMcrch,  1861. 

In  the  confusion  and  excitement  at- 
tending the  close  of  the  Forty-fourth  Con- 
gress, in  a  "gush  of  conciliation," 

An  Amendment  to  the  Act  of  March  3, 
1877, 

was  rushed  through.     It  provides  : 

That  the  sum  of  $375,000.  or  so  much  thereof 
as  may  be  necessary,  be  appropriated  to  pay 
the  amount  due  to  mail  contractors  for  mail 
service  performed  in  the  States  of  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia.  Kentucky,  Lou- 
isiana, Mississippi,  Missouri,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Texas,  Tennessee.  Virginia, 
and  West  Virginia,  in  the  years  1859, 1860,  and 
1861,  and  b^ore  the  said  States  respectively  en- 
gaged in  tear  against  the  United  States  ;  and  the 
provision  of  section  3480  of  the  Revised  Statutes 


17 


of  the  Uiiited  States  shall  not  be  applicable  to  ] 
the  pajments  therein  authorized:    Proviied, 
That  any  auch  claims  which  have  been  paid  by 
the  Confederate  States   Government  shall  not  be 
again  paid. 

Sherman's  Stui-dy  Stand  against  Fraud. 

Secretarj'  Sherman,  suspecting  fraud, 
inexorably  demanded  that  all  the  c'airas 
'of  Southern  mail  contractors  coming 
within  the  scope  of  this  law,  must  first  be 
presented  and  adjusted,  so  that  if,  as  he 
believed,  the  appropriation  was  insuffi- 
cient for  full  payment,  what  there  was 
might  be  paid  out  pro  rata.  This  gave 
time  fur  investigation,  but  greatly  exas- 
perated these  rebel  claimants. 

lleagan's     Joint    Resolution    to    L.et    the 
Thieves  Get  at  the  Treasury. 

November  16,  1877,  in  the  House,  a 
joint  resolution  (introduced  by  Mr.  Rea- 
gan, Democrat,  and  ex- rebel  Postmaster- 
General,)  was  reported  back  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

lleKulved,  eic.  That  theSec-etaryof  the  Treas- 
ury shall  begin  at  once  to  pay  iu  full  to  the  late 
mail  confraetors  of  the  States  of  Alabama.  Ar- 
kansas. Florida,  Georgia.  Kentucky,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina.  Texas,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  West 
Virginia,  their  heirs  or  legal  representatives, 
the  amounts  due  under  their  respective  con- 
tracts lor  the  years  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine,  eighteen  hundred  an  i  ?ixty,  and  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-one;  and  the  appropriation 
of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars,  made  by  act  approved  March  third, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  shall  be 
immediately  available  for  said  payments:  Pro- 
vided, That  payments  shall  be  made  for  ser- 
vices rendered  up  to  May  thirty-first,  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-one,  when  discontiouance  , 
was  ordered  by  the  Postmaster  General,  and  j 
not  thereafter;  and  the  provisions  of  section 
thirty-four  hundred  and  eighty  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  ths  United  States  shall  not  be  ap- 
plicable to  the  payments  herein  authorized. 
All  acts  and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  herewith 
are  hereby  repealed. 

The  rebel  claimants,  it  will  be  observed, 
■werein  an  impatient  and  mandatory  mood, 
"The  Secratery  shall  begin  at  once  to  pap 
in  full,  &c  They  had  yet  to  learn  'to 
labor  and  to  wait."  They  wanted  the 
$375,000  at  once,  on  the  principle  of  "first 
<jome  first  served,"  each  case  to  be  paid 
in  full,  just  so  far  as  the  money  would  go, 
and  were  quite  willing  to  trust  the  claims 
remaining  unpaid  to  future  appropria- 
tions. 

The  Debate— Ex-Confederate  Postmaster 
General  Keagan  Makes  Strong  Asser- 
tions. 

The  dtrbate  which  followed,  (February 
15,  1378,) — in  which  Messrs.  Reagan, 
(Democrat.)  of  Virginia,  and  Money, 
(Democrat.)  of  Mississippi,  were  most 
prominent  in  behalf  of  the  "stand-and- 
•deliver"  joint  resolution    aforesaid — was 


very  able  on  both  sides,  and  subsequent 
revelations  developed  that  on  one  side  it 
was  pre-eminently  crafty  and  deceitful. 

On  the  8th  March,  after  a  three- weeks' 
opportunity  to  verify  his  facts,  Mr.  Reagan 
reiterated  in  part,  and  until  the  exposure 
was  made  retreated  from  none  of  bis  for- 
mer statements,  that,  as  the  ex-Postmas- 
ter General  of  the  rebel  Confederacy, 
he  was  well  satisfied  that  the  Con- 
federate Government  had  paid  none 
of  these  claimants — had  compelled  them 
to  account  to  the  United  States  for  all 
the  moneys  and  stamps  in  their  possession 
up  to  May  31,  1861.  And  he  again  urged 
the  payment  of  these  claimants  for  their 
services  up  to  that  date  as  a  debt  due  on 
principles  of  morality  and  public  law — 
"accounts  for  the  adjustment  of  which 
authority  should  be  given." 

The  Astounding  Developments  from  tlie 
Rebel  Archives— The  Proofs  of  Fraud 
Stamped  All  Over  These  Claims. 

But  it  happens  that  the  archives  tjf  the 
rebel  Government  are  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  and  Messrs.  Conger 
and  Willits,  Republican  Representatives 
from  Michigan,  devoted  the  intervening 
time — as  R-agan  might  have  done — to 
looking  up  the  fads  touching  these  claims. 
These  facts,  in  brief,  are  as  follows  : 

In  proclamations,  -^ated  respectively  Mont- 
gomery, Ala.,  May  13  and  20,  1861.  and  signed 
by  "John  H.  Reagan,  Postmaster  General,"  all 
postmasters,  route  and  special  agents,  all  mail 
Contractors,  mail  messengers,  and  special  'con- 
tractors are  required  to  retain  in  their  posses- 
sion, and  turn  over  to  the  Confederate  Post- 
master General,  the  said  John  H.  Reaj^an,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Confederate  States,  all  reve- 
nue or  moneys  which  shall  have  accrued  from 
the  postal  service  of  -.he  United  States  prior  to 
the  1st  of  June.  1S61— all  mail-bags,  locks  and 
keys,  marking  and  other  stamps,  blanks  for 
quarterly  r  turns  of  postmasters,  and  all  other 
property  belonging  to  or  connejted  with  the 
postal  service. 

In  a  statement  of  Auditor  Baker,  of  the  Con- 
federate Post  Otfice  Department,  of  October  1, 
1862.  the  aggregate  of  these  claims  of  contrac- 
tors for  mail  services  prior  to  May  31,  1861,  is 
given  at  $773,444.17.  By  Confederate  laws,  ap- 
proved respectively  August  30,1861,  January 
23, 1862,  and  September  27,  1862,  these  claims 
are  assumed  by  the  Confederate  Government, 
$800,OOJ  are  appropriated  for  their  payment, 
and  contractors  were  required,  in  receiving 
their  paym^>nts,  to  agree  thac  if  the  United 
States  should  ever  pay  them  anything  for  these 
services  they  should  refund  it  to  the  Confeder- 
ate Government. 

All  these  facts,  so  violently  in  conflict  with 
Mr.  Reagan's  statements  in  tha  House,  are 
fully  verified  by  his  own  several  reports  as  Con- 
federate Postmaster  General  up  to  that  of  May 
2, 1864— the  last  which  could  be  found— with  the 
further  fact  that  at  that  date,  of  the  claims 
for  which  he  is  now  urging  an  appropriation  of 
$375,000  by  the  United  States,  he  had  himself 
paid  $561,544  22,  and  the  presumption  that  dur- 
ing the  remaining  eleven  months  of  the  Con- 
federacy every  dollar  of  them  had  been  paid. 


18 


Effect  on  the  House  and  on  the  coiuitry— 
The  enacting  clause  stricken  out— Tlie 
vote. 

The  statement  of  these  facts  fell  like  a 
bombshell  in  the  House  and  startled  the 
entire  North.  On  the  16th  March,  1878, 
Reagan's  joint  resolution  was  reported 
back  to  the  House  from  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  with  the  enacting  clause  stricken 
out. 

Mr.  Eden  (Democrat)  having  demanded 
the  previous  question,  which  was  seconded 
and  the  main  question  ordered,  the  ques- 
tion was  upon  agreeing  to  the  report. 

Mr.  Waddell  (Democrat)  moved  to  re- 
consider the  vote  by  which  the  main  ques- 
tion had  been  ordered,  which  motion  was 
disagreed  to  by  78  yeas  to  131  nays. 

Whereupon,  without  a  division,  the  re- 
port was  agreed  to,  and  the  bill  was  dead. 

The  vote  upon  Mr.  Waddell's  motion  to 
reconsider  shows  two  Republicans  (from 
Southern  and  border  States)  voting  yea, 
and  102  Republicans  voting  nay,  while  76 
Dera^crats  voted  yea  and  only  29  Demo- 
crats voted  nay.  In  detail,  it  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Yeas— Messrs.  Aiken,  Atkins,  H.  P.  BeU 
Blackburn,  Bliss,  Boone,  Bridges.  Brogden.  J. 
W.  Caldwell,  W.  P.  Cakhoell,  Chalmers,  J.  B. 
Clarke,  Cook,  S.  S.  Cox,  Cravens,  Crittenden, 
Culberson,  Dihrell,  Durham,  Eden,  Elam,  Ellis 
Ewing,  Felton,  Forney,  Franklin,  Garth,  Ganse, 
Gibnon,  Giddinga,  Glover,  Goode,  Gunter,  II.  R. 
Harris,  J.  T.  Harris,  Harrison,  Hart  ridge, 
Henkle,  Henry,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  Herbert,  Hooker, 
House,  J.  T.  Jones,  Kimmell,  Knott.  Ligon, 
Martin,  McKenzie,  Money.  Morgan,  Morrison^ 
Muldrow,  Quinn,  Jiea,  Reagan,  Riddle,  W.  M. 
Rohhins,  Roberts,  Scales,  Schleicher,  Shelley,  W. 
E.  Smith,  Springer,  Steele,  Thorn  burgh,  Throck- 
morton, Tucker,  R.  B.  Vance.  Waddell,  G.  C. 
Walker,  Walsh,  Whitthomo,  J.  N.  Williams,  A. 
S.  Willis,  B.  Wilson,  Yeates,  Young— ':S. 

Nays— Messrs.  Aldrich,  Bacon,  G.  A.  Bagley, 
J.  H.  Baker.  W.  H.  Baker,  Ballou,  Bayne. 
Benedict,  Bicknell,  Bi?bee,  Bouck,  Boyd,  Bragg, 
Brentano,  Brewer,  Briggs,  T.  M.  Browne, 
Bandy,  H.  C.  Burchard,  Burdick,  Cain,  Camp, 
J.  M.  Campbell,  Cannon,  Caaweil,  Claflin.  R. 
Clark,  Cobb,  Cole,  Collins,  Cocger,  J.  D.  Cox, 
Cummings,  Cutler,  Danford.  H.  Davis,  Deering, 
DenisoD,  Dunnell,  Dwight.  Bames,  Errett,  J. 
L.  Evans.  E.  B.  Finley,  Fort,  Foster,  Frye. 
Fidler,  Gardner,  Garfield,  A.  H.  Hamilton, 
Hardenbergh.  B.  W.  Harris,  Hart,  Ilartzell, 
Haskell,  P.  C.  Hayes,  Hazelton,  Henderson,  A. 
S.  Hcioitt,  Hubbell,  H.  L.  Humphrey,  Hunger- 
ford,  Ittner,  James,  J.  S.  Jones,  Joyce,  Koifer, 
Keightley,  Kelley,  G.  M.  Lander*,  Lapham, 
Lathrop,  Lindsey,  Loring,  Maish.  Marsh,  May- 
ham,  McCook,  McKinley,  McMahon,  Mitchell, 
Monroe,  H.  S.  Neale.  Norcross.  Oliver,  0  Neiil, 
Page.  G.  W.  Patterson,  T.  M.  Patt  rson,  Plielps, 
W.  A.  Phillips,  Pollard,  C.  N.  Potter,  Pound. 
Price.  Randolph,  Reed,  J.  B.  Reifly,  W.  W. 
Rice,  G.  D.  Robinson,  M.  S.  Robinson,  Ryan, 
Sampson,  Sapp.  Shallenberger,  Sinnickson, 
Smalls,  A.  H.  Smith,  Starin.  Stenger,  Stewart,, 
J.  W.  Stone,  J.  C.  Stone,  J.  M.  Thompson,  Tip- 
ton, R  W.  Totonihend,  Van  Vorhes,  Veeder, 
Wait,  Warner,  Watson.  Welch,  M.  D.  White, 
A.  S.  Williams.  C.  G.  Williams, ./.  Williams,  R. 
"Williams.  Willits,  "Wren,  Wright— \?,\. 


PART  VIII. 

A  SubsequeiLt  Assault  ou  the 
Senate  by  the  5$oiit]ieru  iflail 
Coutraetor»«y  but  TUey  are  Fi- 
nally Di»«conitlte«l. 

The  following  (see  McPherson's  Hand- 
book of  Politics  for  1878,  pages  215,  216) 
is  the  history  in  brief  of  the  attack  made 
upon  the  Senate  by  the  Southern  Mail 
men  after  their  ignominious  defeat  in  the 
House : 

Pending  the  Sundry  Civil  bill, 
1878,  June  18— Mr.  Merrimon  offered  the  fol- 
lowing: 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  instructed  to  pay  according  to  the 
provision  of  the  act  app-oved  March  3, 1877, 
the  money  appropriated  by  said  act,  to  pay  ar- 
rearnges  due  to  mail  contractors  for  carrying 
the  mail  of  the  United  States  in  the  years  1859, 
1860,  and  1861. 

Mr.  Morrill  moved  to  add  as  an  amend- 
ment the  words:  '*  Provided,  That  this  shall 
not  be  construed  to  repeal  section  3480  of  the 
Revised  Statutes,"  which  was  rejected— yeas 
24.  nays  29: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Allison,  Anthony,  Blaine, 
Booth,  Burnside.  Conkling,  Davis,  of  Illinois, 
Dawes,  Ferry,  Hoar.  Kirkwood,  McMillan, 
Mitchell,  Morrill,  Oglesby,  Paddock,  Plumb, 
Rollins,  Sargent,  Saunders,  Spencer,  Teller, 
Wadleigh,  Windom— 24. 

Nays — Messrs.  Armstrong,  Bailey,  Bar/ium, 
Bayard,  Beck,  Butler,  Cockrell,  Coke,  Conover, 
Dorsey,  Eaton,  Eustis,  Gordon,  Grover,  Harris, 
Hereford.  Hill,  Johnston,  Jones,  of  Florida, 
Lamar,  McCreery,  McDonald.  Maxey,  Merri-, 
mon,  Morgan,  Randul-ph,  Saulsbury,  Voorhees,. 
Withers—^. 

The  motion  of  Mr.  Merrimon  was  agreed  to 
—yeas  28.  nays  23  : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Armstrong,  Bailey,  Barnum, 
Bayard,  Beck,  Bugler,  Cockrell,  Coke,  Conover, 
Eaton,  Eustin,  Gordon,  Grover.  Harris,  Here- 
ford, Hill,  Johnston,  Jones  of  Florida,  Lamar, 
McCreery,  McDonald,  Maxey,  Merrimon,  Mor- 
gan, Randolph,  Saulsbury,  Voorhees,  Withers — 
28. 

Nays— Messrs.  Allisjon,  Anthony,  B'aine, 
Booth,  Burnside,  Conkling,  Davis  of  Illinois, 
Ferry,  Hoar,  Kirkwood,  McMillan,  Mitchell, 
Morrill,  Oglesby,  Paddock,  PlumK  Rollins, 
Sargent,  Saunders,  Spencer,  Teller,  Wadleigh, 
Windom— 23. 

Mr.  "Wadleigh  moved  to  add  these  words : 

Provided,  hoivever.  That  no  payment  shall  be 
made  to  any  contractor  unless  upon  satisfac- 
tory proof  that  he  has  not  heretofore  been  paid 
by  the  Confederate  States  Government. 

Mr.  Harris  moved  to  add  to  the  amendment 
of  Mr.  Wadleigh  the  words  :  "  And  ihe  claim- 
ant shall  be  a  competent  witness  to  prove  the 
fact,"  which  Mr.  Wadleigh  accepted. 

Which  was  agreed  to. 

Mr.  Blaine  moved  to  add  : 

And  every  claimant  under  this  provision 
shall  be  required  to  give  bond  to  the  United 
States,  with  saiisfactory  security  for  the  repay- 
ment of  any  sum  which  shall  be  subsequently 
proved  to  have  been  paid  by  the  Confederate 
Government. 

Mr.  Johnston  offered  this  substitute  : 

But  no  money  shall  be  paid  to  any  claimant 
under  this  provision  until  he  shall  have  given 
bond,  with  good  security,  to  refund  the  money 
so  paid,  in  case  it  shall  appear  that  he  had 
been  paid  for  the  same  service  by  the  Confed- 
erate States.  This  clause  shall  not  apply  to 
personal  representatives  or  other  fiduciaries. 


19 


This  amendment  was  laid  on  the  table— yeas 
27,  nays  22. 

Yeas— Messrs.  Anthony,  Bamum,  Blaine, 
Booth,  Burnside,  Christianoy,  Dawes,  Dorsey, 
Eaton,  Ferry,  Hoar,  Howe,  Kernan,  Kirkwood, 
McMillan, Matthews,  Mitchell.Morrill.Oglesby, 
Plumb,  Rollins,  Sargent,  Saunders,  Spencer, 
Teller.  Wadleigh.  Windom— 27. 

Nays — Messrs.  Bailev,  Bayard,  Beck,  Butler, 
Coke,  Conover.  Eustis,  Gordon,  Grover,  Harris, 
Hereford,  Hill,  Johnston,  Jone"  of  Florida,  Me- 
JDonald,  Marey,  Merrimon,  Morgan,  Saulsbury, 
Voorhees,  Whyte.   Withers— 22. 

A  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  the  motion  of  Mr. 
Blaine  was  lost— yeas  23,  nays  26: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Bailey,  Bayard,  Beck,  Butler, 
Co^e.Conover,  Dorsey.  Eaton.  Eustis,  Grover, 
Harris,  Hereford,  Hill,  Johnston,  Jones  of 
Florida.  Lamar,  McCreery,  Marey,  Merrimon, 
Morgan,  Saulnhury,  Whyte,   Withers — 23, 

TSJ  a  YS— Messrs.Anthony.BIaine.Booth,  Burn- 
side,  Christiancy,  Dawes,  Ferry.  Hoar,  Howe. 
Kernan.  Kirkwood.  Matthews,  McDonald,  Mc- 
Millan,Mitchell,  Morrill.  Ogleeby,  Plumb.  Rol- 
lins* Sargent.  Saunders,  Spencer,  Teller,  Voor- 
hees, Wadleigh,  Windom— 26. 

Mr.  Blaine  modified  his  amendment  so  as  to 
read: 

But  no  money  shall  be  paid  to  any  claimant 
under  this  provision  until  he  shall  have  given 
bond,  with  good  security,  to  refund  the  money 
so  paid  in  case  it  shall  appear  that  he  had  been 
paid  for  the  same  service  by  the  so-called  Con- 
federate States  government. 
And  it  was  agreed  to,  without  a  division. 
Mr.  Hoar  offered.thisamendment,  which  was 
agreed  to,  without  a  division  : 

Provided,  That  any  person  who  shall  know- 
ingly receive  or  attempt  to  obtain  under  the 
provisions  of  this  section,  any  money  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  on  account  of 
a  claim  whioh  has  once  been  paid,  either  by  the 
so-called  Confederate  States  or  the  United 
States,  sh>ill  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding 
$5,000  and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  five 
years. 
June  19— The  section,  as  follows: 
That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be,  and  he 
is  hereby,  instructed  to  pay,  acf  ording  to  the 
provisions  of  the  act  approved  March  3.  1877, 
tke  money  appropriated  by  said  act  to  pay  ar- 
rearages due  to  mail  contractors  for  carrying  the 
mail  of  the  United  States  in  the  years  1859,1860, 
and  1861 :  Provided,  however.  That  no  payment 
shall  be  made  to  any  contractor  unless  upon 
satisfactory  proof  that  he  has  not  heretofore 
been  paid  by  the  Confederate  States  govern- 
ment;  and  the  claimant  shall  be  a  competent 
witness.  But  no  money  shall  be  paid  to  any 
claimant  under  this  provision  until  he  shall 
have  given  bond,  with  good  security,  to  refund 
the  money  so  paid  in  case  it  shall  appear 
that  he  had  been  paid  for  the  same  service  by 
the  so-called  Confederate  States  Government : 
Provided,  That  any  person  who  shall  know- 
ingly receive  or  attempt  to  obtain,  under  the 
\  rovisions  of  this  section,  any  monej  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  on  account  of  a 
claim  which  has  once  been  paid,  either  by  the 
so-called  Confederate  States  or  the  United 
States,  shall  be  punished  b^  fine  not  exceeding 
t5,OC>0  and  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding  five 
years. 

Was  then  adopted  in  the  Senate— yeas  28 
nays  24 : 

Yeas— Messrs.  Armstrong,  Bailey,  Bamum, 
Bayard,  Beck,  Bruce.  Butler,  Christiancy-,  Cock- 
rell.  Coke,  Con  over.  Eaton,  Eustis,  Gordon, 
Harris,  Hill,  Johnston,  Jones  of  Florida,.  Kel- 
logg, _  ifernan,  McCreery,  McDonald,  Maxey, 
Merrimon,  Morgan,  Voorhees,  Whyte,  Withers 
-28 

Nays— Messrs.  Allison,  Anthony,  Blaine, 
Booth,  BurriSide,  Conkling,  Davis  of  Illinois, 
Dawes,  Ferry,  Hoar,  Howe,  McMillan,  Mat- 
ihews,  Mitchell,  Morrill,  Oglesby,  Plumb,  Rol- 


lins, Sargent,  Saunders,  Spencer.  Teller.  Wad- 
leigh, Windom— 24. 

The  section  was  dropped  in  the  Committe*  «>■  f 
Conference. 

[Note. — Two  things  are  to  be  specially 
observed  here:  First,  the  almost  absoltite 
unanimity  of  D  emocratic  Senators  in  favor 
of  paying  these  Southern  mail  contraetora^ 
claims,  and  the  fact  that  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  Northern  and  three  SoutberrD 
Senators  the  Republicans  were  a  unit:, 
against  them;  second,  that  this  very- 
unanimity  among  the  Senate  Democrats 
makes  it  probable  that  the  Howae- 
Democrats  would  have  manifested  a  lilc? 
spirit  but  for  the  fear  of  losing  close  dis- 
tricts at  the  fall  elections.  And  doubtleass 
this  is  why  "  the  section  was  dropped,  jm 
the  Committee  of  Conference. "] 


PAET  IX. 

Conger's  Proposed  ConstitiP" 
tiontil  Antendmeiit  ProbirliiJl-' 
ing  PtiymeiLt  of  Rebel  ClieiinisE^ — 
Yote  Tliereon^Tlie  fSoiatlierm 
Demoerats^  Woiolti  Pay  Tliemb^ 
and  HO  Record  'Klftem^elVes. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1878,  Mr.  CongfT- 
(Republican)   moved,  the   Houp€  to  sus- 
pend the  rules  and  pass  the  following: 
Joint  resolution  proposing  an   amendment  te> 
the  Constitution  prohibiting  the  payment  oi" 
claims  of  disloyal   persons  for  prcperty   i»- 
jured  ur  destroyed  in  the  late  war  of  the  re- 
bellion. 

Article  XVI. 
No  claim  shall  ever  hereafter  be  allcwf  dj  a^ 
paid  by  the  United  States,  whether  as:damags® 
or  otherwise,  for  any  pr  operly,  real  or  pergonal,, 
taken,  used,  injured,  or  destroyed  by  United 
States  troops,  or  by  or  through  any  officer,  oi-wiR 
or  military,  acting  under  or  by  authoiatji  wi^ 
the  United  States,  or  from  any  other  oansfE- 
whatever,  during  the  suppression  of  the  latere^ 
belliyn  in  any  of  the  States  that  were  in  rehel^- 
lion  against  the  Grovernment  of  the  United 
States,  or  for  any  property  taken,  used*  intr- 
jured,  or  destroyed  outside  of  the  said  States  so 
in  rebellion,  and  which  belon»ed;  to  personsj 
residing  in  such  rebellious  States,  unless  the 
person  orpersons  owning  the  property  50  taken,. 
UFed,  injured,  or  destroyed  were,  during  all  thc? 
time  of  such  rebellion,  loyal  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  gave  neither.ai^i 
nor  encouragement  to  the  enemy. 

After  some  delay  and  confusion,  th.& 
rules  were  suspended,  and  the  reporutioE- 
passed  by  145  yeas  to  61  nays.  Tbe  faefe 
that  only  43  Democrats  voted  for,  and  61 
Democrats  voted  against  it,  and  that  202: 
Republicans  voted  for,  and  none  against 
it,  shows  plainly  enough  what  the  Demo- 
cratic party  would  do  in  the  matter  &§' 
rebel  claims  had  they  the  power. 

The  Vote  on   Conger'n  Motiou 
was,  in  detail,  as  follows: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Acklen,  Aldrich.  Baooti,  Gr.  ^5-- 
Bugley.  W.  H.   Baker,   Banks.  Banning,  Biek- 


20 


nell,  Bliur,  Bll»ti.  Jiouck,  Boyd.  Braiio.  B^en- 
tano.  Brewer.  BrUjfs.  T.  M.  Browne.  Hurdick, 
Bu'.ler.  Cain.  Calkins,  J.  M.  Camnbell.  Cannon. 
CASweU.  Chitienden.  Claflin.  A.  A.  Clarh\  R. 
Clark.  Ch/Dwr.  CM,  Cole.  Collinx,  Cotikt.  Co- 
vert, J.  1)  Cox,  Crnpo,  Cutnminirp.  Cutler.  H. 
Davis,  I)e  m,  Deering,  Dcnieon,  D'u-kcii.  Dun- 
nel',  l)wight,  Eaoaes.  Ellsworth,  I.  N.  Evans, 
J.  L.  Evans.  Ewing,  E.  li.  Fin/cv.  Foster,  Frew- 
man,  Frye,  Crardner.  (J.irfield.  (I'lm-rr,  A.  //. 
Ilnmilton,  Hanna,  Ihirdcnbergli,  llarmor,  ILut, 
Jlartze/f,  Uaskell,  Uaz'^lton.  Henderson.  His- 
cock,  Uubbeti.  H.  L.  Humphrey.  Ilungerford, 
Hunter,  J.imes,  Joyce,  Keiter,  Keightlev,  K  il- 
ley,  J.  H.  Ketcham.  Lipham,  Lathrop.  Loring, 
LxUtreV.  Linde,  Mnclceii,  Marsh.  Mayham.  Mc- 
Cook,  McGo*an,  McKialey,  McMahon,  L.  S. 
Metcalfe,  Mitchell,  Monroe,  3/o/v.t',H  8.  Neal, 
Noroross,  Oliver.  O'Neill,  Overton.  Puge,  Q 
W.  Patt-rson,  T.  M.  Patter xon,  Peddie,  Phelpn, 
W.  A.  Phillips,  Pound  Powers.  Rnndolph, 
Keed  J.  B.  Re  illy.  A.  V.  Rice  W.  W.  Rice, 
Roberta,  G.  D.  Robinson,  M.  Rues,  Ryan,  Sapp, 
Sayl'T,  Sexton.  Shallenborger.  Sinnicksc, 
Smalls.  A.  H.  Smith,  Springer,  St  arin,  Stenger, 
Stewart.  J.  W.  Stone,  Strait,  A.  Townsend.  U. 
W.  Toioash'-nd,  Tamer,  Tarnev,\Y;i\i,  W.  Ward. 
Warner.  Welch,   M.  D.  White,  A.  S.   Wi./liamx, 

A.  Williams.  C.  G  Williams.  J.  WiUidmn,  R. 
Williams.  B,  A.  Willie,  Willits.  Wren— 145 

N A Y.S -Messrs.  Aiken,  Atki.,8,  II.  P.  Bdl, 
Blackburn.  Boone,  Bright.  Cabell.  J.  W.  Cald- 
well, Candler,  Carlisle,  Chalmers,  Cook.  S.  S. 
Cox,  Cravens,  Crittenden  Davidson,  J.  J.  Da- 
vis, Dibrell,  Durham,  Eden.  J  II  tJvins.  Fel- 
ton,  Forney,  Franklin.  Garth,  Ciddings,  f/oode, 
H.  R.  Harris.  J.  T.  Harris,  Ilnrtridge,  Ileakle, 
Herbert,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  Hooker.  House.  Hunton. 
Kenna,  Knott,  Ligon,  Manning.  MeKenzie, 
Mills,  Morrison.  Muldrow.  Muller,  Pridemore, 
Jieagan,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Robins.  Robertson., 
Scales,  Schleicher,  Singlston.   Throckmorton,   It. 

B.  Vance.  Waddell.  Whittiorne,  Wiggington,  B. 
Wilson,  Yates,  Young — 61 

Not  Voting— Messrs.  J.  H.  Biker.  Bdlou, 
Bayne,  Beebe.  Benedict,  Bisboe,  Bland,  Blount, 
Bridges,  Brogden.  Buckner,  Bundy,  H.,C.  Bur- 
chard.  W  P.  Caldwell.  Camp.  J.  B.  Clarke.  J. 
B.  Clark,  jr.,  Culberson,  D  int'Td,  Douglas, 
Eickhoff,  Flam.  Ellis,  JKrrett,  Fort,  Fuller. 
Ganse.  Gibson,  Gnnter.  H*«.le.  B.  W.  Harris, 
Harrison.  Hatcher.  P.  C.  Hayes,  Hond'*e.  Hen- 
ry, A.  S.  Hewitt.  Ittner.  F  Jones,  J.  T.  Jones. 
J.  «.  Jones,  Jorgensen.  Kiilinger.  Kimmel 
Knapp,  G.  M.  Landers.  Lindsay,  L-'ckwood. 
Maish,  Martin,  Money,  Morgan.  Pollard.  C.  N. 
Potter,  Price.  Puith,  Rainey.  Rea.  M.  S.  Robin- 
son, Sampson,  Shelley.  Slemons,  W.  E.  Smith, 
Southard.  Sparks.  Steele.  Stephens,  J.  C.  Stone. 
<S«oann.  J.  M.  Thompson,  Thornburgh,  Tipton, 
M.I.  TtWQS3nH.  Tacker.YAn  Vorh-s.  Vepder, 
G.  G.  Walker,  Walsh.  Watson.  H.  White.  J.  ^. 
Williams.  A.  S.  Willis,  F.    Wood,  Wright-Si. 

The  Solid  South  "in"  f(»r  Rebel  Claims— A 
"Warning  to  the  North. 

It  will  be  observed  that  of  the  Si.  "  not 
voting"  34  were  absent  Itepublicans  and 
that  50  Democrats  failed  to  vote  whether 
present  or  not.  The  further  fact  that  of 
the  61  Drfraocrats  who  voted  nay  52  are 
Southern  Drioncrats,  shows  how  solid  the 
Southern  States  would  stand  against  any 
such  contemplated  consliiutional  amend- 
ment, and  how  litile  chance  it  would  have 
of  getting  the  needed  assent  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  State's. 

The  New  York  Tribune,  June  20,  1878, 
in  describing  the  incident,  states  that  "the 
joint  resolution   which  he    (Con^pr)   pre- 


sented cau.sed  greater  excitement  tlmn  any 
oth»-r  of  the  day  or  evening."  *  ^  ^t 
"This  record  (ihe  vote  on  Conger's  joint 
resolution)  will  be  a  most  instructive  one 
and  may  open  the  eyes  of  the  pf^ople  of 
the  North  to  what  the  ascendancy  of  the 
South  in  Congress  may  mean.  Governor 
Tilden  mortally  offended  the  Democratii 
of  the  South  in  1876  by  his  letter  on 
Southern  claincs,  and  now  the  Represen- 
tatives of  that  section  have  rut  themselves 
on  the  record  in  a  negative  way  against 
placing  any  insuperable  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  ihe  payment  of  rebel  claims." 


PART  X. 

Possum  Tiltleii's  Pretended  At- 
titude Touctiing  Rebel  Claims 
—His  l>ui>licity-He  Will  Not 
Pay  "Disloyal"  Claims,  but 
Holds  that  "  We  Are  All  Loyal 
j¥ow"— Ex-Confederate  Cabell's 
Ingenious  Report  Proving 
Kebelj  "  Lioyalty"  —  Promised 
Action  "after  the  Fall  Elec- 
tions." 

It  is  generally  believed  that  Tilden' s 
letter  declaring  opposition  to  the  payment 
of  Southern  claims  made  the  South  his 
enemy.  It  undou'tedly  did  for  the  time 
being,  or,  at  least,  the  South  pretended  to 
so  regard  him.  But,  in  view  of  the  known 
cunning  and  duplicity  of  the  '"still-hun- 
ter" Tilden  and  the  proverbial  craft  of  the 
Southern  leaders,  a  brief  analysis  of  the 
most  important  paragraph  of  Tilden's  let- 
ter on  Southern  claims  may  develop  the 
cat  in  the  meal  tub.     Tilden  says : 

No  claim  for  n-ay  loss  or  damage  incu-red  by 
didoyal  persons,  arising  from  the  late  war, 
whether  covered  by  the  fourteenth  amend- 
ment or  not.  will  be  recognizod  or  paid.  The 
cotton  tax  will  not  be  refunded.  I  shall  deem 
it  my  duty  to  veto  every  bill  providing  fjr  the 
assumption  or  payment  of  anj  such  debts, 
losse.^',  damages,  claims,  or  for  the  refunding  of 
any  such  tax. 

But  it  is  now  pointed  out  that  this  ex- 
tract is  susceptible  of  two  constructions — 
one  for  the  people  of  the  North,  and  an- 
other for  the  people  of  the  South.  In 
the  North  it  is  believed  that  he  is  opposed 
to  the  payment  of  all  these  claims.  In 
the  South  the  leaders  at  lea^t  know,  as 
Tilden  knew  when  he  wrote  the  letter, 
that,  if  so  disposed,  should  he  ever  reach 
power,  he  can  favor  the  payment  of  all 
such  claims  without  inconsistency.  Til- 
den's adroitness  and  cunning  in  tbe 
manipulation  of  words  is  unequalled.  He 
is  opposed  to  and  will  not  pay  "  all  such 
debts,  losses,  damages,"  &c.,  "incurred 
by    disloyal    persons,"    he    says.      And 


21 


■when  lie  wrote  ihe  letter  he  had  before 
him  a  report  made  by  Mr.  Cabell — Demo- 
crat and  fX-rebel  officer  of  Virginia — 
from  the  Committee  on  War  Claims,  June 
30,  1876,  to  the  Democratic  House  of 
Rf-presentatives,  which  report  is  intended 
to  show  that  "we  are  all  loyal  now;" 
that  when  a  Southern  rebel  claimant  has 
lieen  specially  pardoned,  or  came  wiihin 
jjardon  or  amnesty, undergeneral  proclaa- 
mations  or  otherwise,  tie  pardon  or  am- 
nesty is  retroactive,  and  is  "  equivalent  to 
affirmative  proof  that  the  party  never  gave 
aid  ;-.nd  comfort  to  the  rebellion,"  and 
thertfore  never  was  "  disloyal."  and 
hence  all  the  old  rebels  except  Jeff  Davis 
and  a  few  others  mijiht  come  in  under 
Tilden's  declaration  without  fear;  and  in 
the  same  manner  a  Democratic  Congress 
would  justify  itself  in  paying  these 
thousands  of  millions. 

The  Pickrell  &  Broocks  Claim — Report  of 
tlie  Democratic  House  Committee  oa 
War  Claims  to  pay  to  these  pardoned 
KebeLs. 

*  *  '"  Your  com:aittee  are  of  opinion  that 
said  Pickrell  and  Brooclis  are  entitled  to  and 
should  be  paid  the  proceeds  of  the  tobacco 
taken  from  tbt^m  at  Wilmington.  N.  C.  as 
aforesaid.  Sfud  tobacco  was  traced  to  New 
York,  where  sold,  and  from  the  marks  and 
brands  upoa  it  each  and  every  box  was  identi- 
fied, and  the  returns  made  to  the  Treasury  De- 
portment— copies  of  which  have  been  received 
from  the  Department  and  »^xamined — show  not 
only  the  tobacco,  but  the  price  received 
therefor,  and  the  amount  covered  into  the 
Treasury. 

Kebel  "Iiifereiices"  from  Supreme  Court 
decisions — Pardon  and  aui:iesty  affirma- 
tive i>roof  of  loyalty— The  Government 
only  a  "Trustee"  for  the  rehel  claimant. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in 
Padelford's  case,  9  Wallace,  p.  531  &c.,  holds 
that  pardon  blots  out  not  only  the  offense,  lont 
all  tht!  consequences  thereof,  and  that  the  re- 
cipie'.t  of  the  pardon  stands  as  if  he  had  never 
committed  an  offense;  in  other  words,  that  the 
proof  of_  pardon  and  amnesty  is  the  equivalent  to 
affirmative  proof  under  the  statute  of  captured 
and  abandoned  property  that  the  party  never  gave 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  rebellion.  Said  decision 
also  establishes  the  principle  that,  in  reference 
to  property  situated  as  this,  the  United  States 
Government  stands  in  the  position  of  a  trustee 
fortheowner.  _  Another  inference  from  the  de- 
cision is,  that  it  was  competent  to  Congress  to 
have  passed  an  act  covering  the  proceeds  of 
cai-turcd  property  into  the  Treasury  to  be  used 
in  support  of  the  war.  but  such  was  not  done; 
therefore  the  court  held  that  as  to  such  cap- 
turtd  or  abundoned  property  the  Uaited  States 
Government  stood  in  the  position  of  a  trustee 
for  the  own  r.  In  furiherance  of  this  position, 
we  find  that  the  Supreme  Court— ui  re  United 
States  vs.  Klein,  13  Wal'..  128— decided  that 
•'  the  act  of  March  12, 1863,  (12  Stat,  at  Large, 
82  .)  to  provide  for  the  collection  of  abaadoned 
and  captured  property  in  iusurrectionary  dis- 
tricts within  the  United  States,  does  not  con- 
fiscate, or  in  any  case  absolutely  divest,  the 
property  of  the  original'  owner,  even  though 
disloyal.    By  the  seizure  the  Government  con- 


1  stituted  itself  a  trustee  for  those  who  were  en- 
:  ti  led,   or  whom  it  should  thereafter  recogniae 
as  entitled." 

I  The  Democratic  Committee's  Pro-Kebel 
"  Conclnsions"— Tlie  "  Trustee  "  must 
Pay  the  Rebel  Claims. 


The  two  decisions  quoted  we  think  are  decis- 
ive of  this  case,  and  force  your  committee  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  Government  now  sim- 
ply holds  the  procetds  of  the  tobacco  tt. ken 
from  the  possession  of  Pickrell  k  Broocks  as 
trustees  fur  the  owners,  and  that  such  proceeds, 
liiss  the  costs  attending  the  matter,  hhould  be 
paid  over  to  said  Pickrell  &  Broocks.  To  show 
that  your  cimmittee  have  made  no  improper 
inference  from  the  decision  of  ihe  Supreme 
Court  last  cited,  a  reference  is  here  made  to  the 
opinion  of  Justice  Miller,  who,  dissenting  from 
the  m  jority  of  the  Court,  uses  this  language : 
*■  If  I  understand  tt.e  present  opinion,  however. 
it  maintains  that  the  Govertment.  in  tpking 
posst'ssion  of  this  property  and  selling  it,  be- 
came the  trustee  of  all  the  former  ownerp, 
whether  loyal  or  disloyal,  and  holds  it  for  the 
latter  until  pardoned  by  the  President,  or  until 
Congress  orders  it  to  be  restored  to  him."  In 
this  case  T.  T.  I'roocks.one  of  the  parties  claim- 
ant, received  a  ?peci^^l  pardon  from  President 
Johnson,  and  Wilson  Pickrell,  an  old  man  dur- 
ing the  war,  came  within  the  several  proclama- 
tions of  amnesty  and  pardon  granted  by  Presi- 
dent .Johnson  since  the  war,  as  also  within  the 
provisions  of  the  several  laws  passed  by  Con- 
gress in  reference  to  such  matters.  The  refult 
that  we  are  brought  to  is,  that  the  net  proceeds 
of  rhis  tobacco  cannot  be  sued  for  by  Pickrell 
&  Broocks  by  reason  of  the  bar  of  the  statute 
of  limitarions,  nor  can  the  United  States,  ob- 
tain any  title  to  tuch  proceeds,  nor  can  the 
same  be  legally  drawn  from  the  Treasury  by 
any  one  without  an  act  of  Congress  for  that 
purpose.  Your  committee,  therefore  report, 
recommending  the  passage  of  the  accompany- 
ing bill  directing  the  payment  to  Wilson  Pick- 
rell and  T.  T.  Broocks,  latf  partners  as  Pickrell 
&  Broocks,  of  the  sum  of  S3,524.75.  the  net  pro- 
ceeds of  the  tobacco  taken  from  them  at  Wil- 
naington,  N.  C,  which  proceeds  were  covered 
in:o  the  Treasury,  as  hereinbefore  stattd. 

Tiiese  Rebel  claims  still  before  the  House 
— To  be  acted  on  "after  the  fall  elections." 

Although  this  report  was  made  at  the 
first  ses.-.ion,  Forty-fourth  Congress,  it  was 
thought  prudent  to  let  the  matter  rest 
awhile — as  to  press  it  while  the  Republi- 
cans so  largely  controlled  the  Senate 
would  do  the  rebel  claimants  no  practical 
good,  and  might  awaken  the  North  to  a 
realization  of  the  dangers  ahead.  The 
same  parties — as  well  as  many  others  of 
like  ilk — howtver,  have  their  rebel  claims 
before  the  present  House;  and  no  doubt 
they  will  be  favorably  reported — after  the 
fail  elections.  And  if  the  next  House  is 
Democratic,  all  such  rebel  claims  will  go 
through  the  Democratic  Congress  flying. 
The  only  safety  to  the  country  is  to  elect 
a  Republican  House,  which  will  be  a 
check  on  the  soon- to  be  Democratic  Sen- 
ate in  the  matter  of  these  claims — wherein 
the  South  proposes  to  "get  even  with  the 
North  " — and  at  the  fame  time  checkmate 
all  of  Tilden's  revolutionary  schemes. 


CHAPTER  IV.     , 
Uke  fievolBtianary  Acts  and  Purpases  of  the  Deiiioeralic  Party, 


PART  i. 

VildeuN^  Ttireateiied  Revelation 
—Introduction  to  tlie  eviden«cis 
•4»r  Tildeu's  €ont<»nplate€l  higli 
«rimc  againist  tlie  Repiibltc— 
JBrief  Review  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary IProeeedings— Th^r  re- 
•  aniarkal>le  growth— How  a  Mi- 
akorit^'  can  ©verthrow  a  ^Jov- 
<»mment— Forcible  illustrattom 
4»t*  the  J^an^ei^  that  Potte  «i» 
l^rocipitaAing  npon  us— Plausi- 
ble Pretexts  i*or  Revoiiition 
Jklwotjis  on  lland. 

■Revolutionists  always  have  a  plausible 
e!X/)use  for  what  they  intend  to  do,  whether 
•^eBoene  of  operations  be  France,  Mexico, 
«w  H,ny  other  country,  and  that  excuse  is 
al47ays  to  Tight  some  alleged  wrong  and 
weatore  to  the  dear  -people  something 
■sirhich  it  is  alleged  they  have  lost.  Most 
jf  the  modern  revolutioiis  in  republics 
iiave  been  brought  about  by  the  ambition 
of  partizans  on  pretexts  of  falsehood  to 
promote  the  selfishness  of  reckless  and 
ieaigning  men.  They  have  methods  which 
Ibaar  a  strong  likeness  to  each  other,  and 
show  that  they  all  come  of  one  family. 
The  dear  people  have  been  Tobbed  or 
cheated,  and  the  disinterested  patriot  pro- 
poses to  rally  a  force  and  set  things  right. 
]X.auis    Napoleon   as  .the  "People's  Cbam- 

pion"  ajid  tbe  "Imitator  of  W^asliing- 

.*on.;" 

ilt  is  almost  impossible  to  detect  the  real 
reason  of  the  revolutionist  at  first.  Louis 
Kapoleon  achieved  his  designs  by  pre- 
itending  to  be  the  cTiampion  of  the  people, 
«nd  as  president  of  the  Republic  made 
3>im8elf  their  master.  He  announced  him- 
aelf  an  imitator  of  Washington  ;  whom  he 
amitated  with  a  vengeance. 
Santa  Anna's  Pretext  in  1838  a  pretended 
Presidential  Election  Praud. 

.'Santa  Anna  look  the  field  in  the  first 

•  ^nfltance,  in  the  year  1828,  on  the  pretext 

"timet  the  two  votes  by  which  Pedraza  was 

declared  elected  president  of  Mexico  over 


Guerrero  were  fraudulently  obtained,  and 
the  subsequent  innumerable  revolutions 
which  have  made  a  hell  of  that  devoted 
country  have  been  the  legitimate  ofi^Ejpring 
of  the  attempt  by  that  scoundrel  to  avenge 
that  pretended  fraud.  War,  confusion, 
debt,  anarchy,  and  despair  have  for  fifty 
years  been  the  annual  product  of  the  ef- 
forts of  the  Mexican-Tilden  to  set  things 
right. 

The  Mexican-Tilden's  "stock  in  trade"— 
What  all  the  horroi-»  at'  Revolntionary 
Mexico  originally  sprung  from. 

To  annul  the  election  of  Pedraza  be 
cause  of  a  pretended  fraud  was  the  stock . 
in  trade  of  S^nta  Anna.  All  the  horrors 
of  Mexico  have  come  from  that,  and  rev- 
olution has  become  the  chronic  condition 
of  Mexican  society.  The  evil  all  grew 
out  of  a  determination  not  to  abide  by  a 
duly  declared  settlement  of  an  election, 
by  the  constituted  and  legal  authorities, 
in  the  mode  and  at  the  time  and  place 
fixed  by  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
land. 

Similar  conditions,  mode  of  action,  and 
revolntionary  designs  as  to  the  Ameri- 
can Presidency. 

The  designs  of  the  conspirators  against 
our  own  President  can  be  read  by  the 
similarity  o£  the  conditions  and  the  mode 
of  action.  Hayes  had  but  one  majority, 
while  Pedraza  had  two;  but  the  close- 
ness of  the  vote  furnishes  the  pretext. 
Hayes  was  not  accused  of  tyranny  or  ty- 
rannical acts  ;  he  was  not  accused  of  seek- 
ing to  injure  or  oppress  any  class  of  peo- 
ple ;  he  was  not  charged  with  seeking  to 
promote  sectionalism,  or  strife,  or  party 
spirit,  or  discord.  He  was  not  charged 
with  violating;  the  laws  or  performing  any 
arbitrary  or  indecent  acts.  The  public 
i  mind  had  settled  into  the  belief  that  he 
I  was  duly  declared  elected,  and  as  Presi- 
dent, he  was  fairly  and  honestly  perform- 
ing his  duty  in  a  legal  and  constitutional 
T^ay. 

A  review  of  the  revoluti>mary  movements 
since  President's  Hayes'  accession. 

There  being  no   wrongful  acts  of  the 
President,  no  oppression,  no  agitation  of 


23 


the  public  mind,  and  no  discontent  or  appre- 
hension of  trouble,  it  would  seem  at  first 
thought  that  there  could  be  no  chance  for 
the  success  of  a  conspiracy.  Here  and 
there,  once  in  a  while,  perhaps,  a  bubble 
might  come  to  the  surface — only  to  burst. 
Three  months  after  the  inauguration  there 
were  mutterings  and  grumblings  and  even 
significant  threatenings  by  Tilden  and 
Dorsheiraer  at  the  Manhattan  Club  recep- 
tion— a  sort  of  ground  swell  as  it  were— 
but  with  that  exception  it  might  be  said 
that  eight  months  passed  away  without  a 
ripple. 
Tilden  returns  from  Europe  and  the  study 

of    revolutionary   plans    in   France — His 

first  gun. 

Then  Tilden  returned  from  Europe. 
He  went  away  ill — too  ill  to  rally  and  eon- 
duct  a  revolution.  But  rest  and  a  sea 
voyage  restored  his  vigor,  and  time  to 
lay  plans  had  been  so  improved  that  he 
was  ready  for  the  first  step  in  imitation  of 
Santa  Anna.  A  serenade  was  instituted, 
and  Tilden  came  out  with  a  speech  osten- 
sibly to  thank  his  friends  for  coming  to 
greet  him,  but  in  reality  to  "  fire  the  pop- 
ular heart"  and  discharge  the 'first  gun  in 
his  campaign  of  revolution. 

Samuel    J.  Tilden    swears  a  ti'euaendous 
oatli ! 

In  this  speech  he  announced  that  "the 
people  had  been  robbed;"  that  "robbery 
was  a  crime:"  that  it  "must  be  avenged;" 
that,  so  help  him  God,  "I  swear  in  the 
presence  of  you  all — and  I  call  upon  you 
to  bear  witness  to  the  oath — to  watch  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  my  life  over  the  rights 
of  the  citizens  of  our  country  with  jealous 
care;"  and  much  of  the  same  import,  too 
tedious  to  quote. 

Nobody  stirs  at  tlie   60und-.-Sammy  plays 
"  'possum." 

The  popular  heart  did  not  fire,  notwith- 
standing this  tremendous  oath.  There 
was  no  response,  and  "order  reigned  in 
Warsaw."  It  became  necessary  to  try 
-some  other  plan,  and  Tilden  was  forced 
to  play  "'possum"  and  make  believe 
dead. 

Tilden's  grievance  and  the  Mexican  busi- 
ness— Maryland  eats  terra.piu  and  sees 
spots  in  the  sun. 

The  month  of  January  came,  and  the 
various  Democratic  legislatures  met, 
looked  at  the  grievance  of  Tilden,  and 
wisely  concluded  not  to  go  into  Mexican 
business  this  year — all  but  the  Legislature 
of  Maryland.  The  Legislature  of  Mary- 
land has  two  distinctions  not  enjoyed  by 


any  other.  It  was  once  bodily  imprisoned 
for  disloyalty  by  a  National  Union  general 
— one  George  B.  McClellan — and  has  for 
a  member,  Montgomery  Blair.  Such  a 
Legislature  could  invent  a  grievance,  if 
one  could  be  invented,  and  th«y  did. 
Blair,  by  a  free  use  of  champagne  and  ter- 
rapin, put  through  a  resolution  that  the 
State  had  been  cheated  in  the  electoral 
count — the  same  language  that  Tilden  had 
used — and  the  wrong  must  be  redressed. 
This  looked  harmless  and  almost  laugha- 
ble. So  does  a  cat  sometimes  when  mice 
are  near. 

Mysterious  conferences  of  Tildenites  at 
Washington  and  New  York — Speaker 
Randall  captured — King  caucus  at  work. 

It  looked  as  though  legal  proceedings 
were  to  be  instituted  in  the  courts.  But 
wait  a  little.  Some  pork  doesn't  boil  that 
way.  Blair  leaves  Annapolis  and  comes 
to  Washington.  There  are  mysterious  con- 
ferences and  consultations,  dodgings  in  and 
out  by  a  brother  of  David  Dudley  Field, 
who  is  Tilden's  engineer,  and  Clarkson 
N.  Potter  runs  back  and  forth  between 
Washington  and  Gramercy  Park,  and 
Speaker  Randall  is  dragooned  into  prom- 
ising to  rule  in  a  motion  of  inquiry  as  a 
question  of  high  privilege,  the  caucus  is 
invoked,  and  all  the  party  machinery  is 
brought  to  bear  to  get  passed  a  resolution 
of  investigation. 

Falseness  and  Duplicity  of  the  Democratic 
Pretext  for  the  Potter  Investigation — 
Contradictory  House  Action  as  to  Med- 
dling with  Hayes'  Title— How  Fright  will 
Disguise  Itself. 

All  this  is  done  on  theMexitian  pretext 
that  nothing  is  intended  but  the  unearth- 
ing of  a  fraud;  but  see  the  "falseness  and 
duplicity.  A  motion  is  sought  to  be  made 
-to  declare  that  it  is  not  intended  to  ques- 
tion the  title  of  Hayes,  and  it  is  squelched 
with  yells,  and  the  most  talented,  most 
distinguished,  and  one  of  the  most  vener- 
able sages  of  the  House  is  indecently 
hooted  down,  because  the  conspirators 
dare  not  trust  their  scheme  to  the  test 
which  is  always  applied  to  honest  pro- 
ceedings. The  conspirators  knew  tfa«ir 
scheme  could  not  succeed  if  put  to  such  a 
test,  and  so  they  choked  the  test  and  the 
mover  by  riot  and  Bedlamite  howls.  A 
few  weeks  later,  however,  the  House  got 
frightened  into  passing  the  resolution  that 
the  title  of  Hayes  could  not  be  meddled 
with,  but  if  they  were  really  of  this  opin- 
ion their  howling  it  down  at  the  start  can- 
not be  accounted  for.  Their  intentions 
have  not  changed  evidently,  but  they 
found  it  necessary  io  endeavor  to  conceal 


24 


them  awhile  longer,  and  hence  the  re80- 
lution  was  allowed  to  pass;  but  neither 
Potter,  McMahou,  S.S.Cox,  Knott,  Black- 
Ijurn,  Southard,  Springer,  nor  A.  S.  Hew- 
itt voted  for  it.  It  does  not  commit  the 
next  House. 

The  Hale    amend  ment  and   Potter'n  Jes- 
uitical Offer. 

Mr.  Hale  made  an  offer  to  investigate 
Tilden's  attempted  frauds,  and  the  con- 
ppirators,  pretending  to  desire  the  evi 
denee  of  fraud,  voted  it  down.  Mr.  Pot- 
ter pretended  that  be  was  willing  to  do 
this  if  Mr.  Hale  would  say  he  had  new 
evidence,  but  he  well  knew  Mr.  Hale  and 
the  Republicans  had  regarded  the  case  as 
finally  settled  and  had  not  been  looking  j 
for  new  evidtnce,  and  had  no  occasion  to 
connive  with  liars  and  perjurers  to  get  a 
show  of  new  evidence  on  which  to  hang 
a  pretext  of  revolution,  and  knew  they 
wouldn't  had  there  been  occasion. 
AVhat  of  the  threatened  Democratic  revo- 
lution has  tlius  far  been  developed 
plainly, 

The  facts  and  course  of  proceedings  so 
far  show  : 

1.  That  Tilden  instigated  the  proceed- 
ings and  has  the  guiding  hand  on  the 
helm. 

2.  That  the  real  aims  of  the  conspira 
tors  are  carefully  sought  to  be  concealed. 

3,  That  the  conspirators  seek  by  ille- 
gitimate and  riotous  means  to  carry  their 
points. 

4,  That  the  usual  pretexts  and  con- 
comitants which  mark  the  courses  and 
methods  of  revolutionists  are  manifest  in 
the  movements  of  the  Blair  and  Tilden 
conspirators. 

Can  a  Democratic  minority  overthrovp  a 
Government  ?  —  Revolutionary  momen- 
tum— Memember,  1861. 
The  conspirators  know  some  things  not 
appreciated  by  the  people.  The  people 
imagine  that  the  Government  can  be  over- 
thrown only  by  the  majority,  but  Tilden 
knows  that  a  few  bad,  cunning,  and  des- 
perate men  can  so  wield  the  masses  that  a 
revolution  once  started  takes  on  a  mo- 
mentum entirely  out  of  proportion  to 
numbers  or  the  merits  of  the  case  which 
they  present.  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and 
North  Carolina  were  strong  Union  States 
from  conviction  in  1861  ;  but  the  storm  of 
revolution,  once  started,  became  a  whirl- 
wind, and  the  beggarly  and  contemptible 
minority  swept  the  majority  out  of  the 
Union  in  a  twinkling,  and  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  honest  Union  men  carried 
rebel  muskets  through  the  war,  or  died 
fighting  in  a  cause  which  they  cordially 
hated  and  despised.  Even  Robert  E.  Lee 
was  a  Union  man,  bi^,t  deluded  with  a  no 


tion  that  he  must  follow  his  State.  Now 
the  delusion  will  be  that  they  must  follow 
their  party,  and  so  one  and  another  have 
already  been  whipped  in,  and  others  will 
continue  to  be  till  the  torch  of  revolution 
is  lighted,  and  then  the  Mexican  methods 
will  be  fairly  inaugurated,  and  the  end  no 
man  can  see. 

Nip    it   in    tlie  Bud— Three  Revolutionary 
Constituents. 

The  only  way  to  stop  revolution  is  to  nip. 
it  in  the  bud.    At  the  commencement  there 
are  in  revolutions  three  parties — those  who 
are  in  the  movement,  those  who  oppose  it, 
and  those  who  think  nothing  will  come  of 
it.     The  first  are  usually  a  small  minority  ; 
but  the  vicious  classes  in  our  cities,  the  fa- 
natics, the  soldiers  of  fortune,  all  instinct- 
ively rally  to  the  support  of  any  deviltry  ]: 
the  timid  are  scared  in  or  into  neutrality, 
and  the  desperadoes  soon  have  their  own 
way,  and  confusion,  desolation,  and  de- 
struction abound  on  every  hand. 
How  France  Was  Strangled  in  One  Night 
by  one  Weak,  Shallow  Man !— Our  Great- 
er Danger  from  the  crafty,  "Still-Hunt- 
ing"   Tilden — Tilden's  Democratic  Bon- 
Rons. 

Victor  Hugo  has  pronoutfced  the  French 
revolution  of  Louis  Napoleon  "the  assas- 
sination ofa people  by  one  man."  Yes,  and 
that  man  was  considered  by  most  iutelli- 
gent  Frenchmen  as  weak,  shallow,  and  so 
utterly  wanting  in  heroic  and  magnetic 
qualities  that  they  laughed  at  the  idea  of 
a  coup  d'etat  down  to  the  very  night  it  was- 
accomplished.  Then,  to  their  intense  dis- 
gust, they  found  their  throats  grasped  by 
the  hand  of  the  insignificant  villain,  and 
there  was  no  help.  The  nation  was  stran- 
gled in  a  night,  and  to  the  sury  rise  of  every- 
body the  assassin  was  supported  and  sus- 
tained by  men  of  more  ability  than  Mont- 
gomery Blair,  and  more  character  than 
Sam  Randall  and  Clarkson  Potter.  Such 
scoundrels  are  always  supported  by  better 
men  than  themselves,  and  Tilden  has  se- 
sured  his  coterie  already.  Some  have 
been  allured  by  promises  of  being  made 
Cabinet  ministers;  others  are  fooled  with 
the  notion  that  there  is  to  be  some  fun,  but 
not  to  amount  to  a  revolution,  while  the 
natural  cussedness  of  a  goodly  number, 
which  circumstances  have  hitherto  kept 
suppressed,  will  improve  the  occasion  for 
a  little  antic  ;  and  so,  altogether,  there 
I  will  be  no  lack  of  allies.  The  rank  and 
!  file  will  come  from  the  million  of  Demo- 
cratic place-hunters,  who  feel  that  the 
counting  in  of  Hayes  cheated  them  of  an 
office  which  they  will  get  without  fail  if 
Hayes  can  be  bounced  ;  and  as  they  will, 


25 


one  and  all  be  assured  that  they  shall  be 
taken  care  of,  they  will  egg  oa  the  eon- 
pirators,  and  compel  timid  Congressman 
to  go  ahead.  Montgomery  Blair  admits 
that  there  are  many  members  wholly  op- 
posed to  the  revolution  ;  but  they  will  have 
to  come  in,  because  of  this  mighty  pressure 
of  a  niillion  ravenous  office-seekers  who 
cannot  wait  two  years  for  a  regular  elec- 
tion. 
"Kevolutioiis  Never  Go    BacltAvartl "— To 

What  Magnitude  Tliis  Has  Swollen  in  a 

Few  Short  Months ! 

Revolutions  grow  in  these  ways  by  a 
natural  law,  and  they  cannot  be  controlled 
when  under  full  headway,  nor  stopped 
except  in  their  early  stages.  See  how  the 
present  one  has  augmented.  When  the 
Manhattan  Club  gaihering  was  held  it 
passed  away  like  a  smoke-whiff.  When 
Tilden  made  his  revolutionary  speech  in 
October  there  was  no  response.  It  fell 
flat.  When  Blair  introduced  his  resolu- 
tion in  the  Maryland  Legislature  it  was 
almost  unanimously  condemned  by  the 
members;  and  yet  it  went  through.  It 
came  to  Congress  and  had  but  few  friends  ; 
but  a  few  weeks  of  cunning  manipulation 
by  Blair,  Field,  and  Potter,  under  direc- 
tion of  Tilden,  and  a  great  investigation 
is  inaugurated.  Men  are  put  on  the  stand 
to  blacken  the  character  of  eminent 
statesmen  —  that  on  the  stand  confess 
themselves  liars,  owning  that  they  could 
be  and  were  bribed,  and  confessing  that 
they  are  without  moral  character,  and 
the  respectability  of  Clarkaon  Potter  is 
obliged  to  associate  with  them,  and  he 
and  McMahon  are  compelled  to  defend  as 
manifest  a  set  of  rascals  as  ever  came  to 
the  surface. 

All  this  is  but  the  work  of  a  few  months. 
What  will  as  many  more  mouths  bring 
forth  no  man  can  imagine.  That  it  will 
be  horrible  no  one  can  doubt. 

The  Horrors  to  Which  the  Pallid,  Half- 
Palsied  Old  Man  of  Graniercy  Park 
Would  Doom  the  American  People. 

The  conspirators  mean  mischief.  The 
investigation  has  no  significance  in  it  if 
not  aimed  at  the  title  of  the  President. 
Blair  avows  this,  and  so  do  others.  Very 
soon  others  will,  that  now  deny  it.  The 
Echeme  is  growing,  and  moderate  men 
will  lose  control  of  it,  if  they  have  not 
already.  When  the  torch  of  revolution 
in  a  country  like  this  is  once  lighted,  hell 
itself  follows.  The  stormy  passions  of 
men  are  unchained  and  rage  with  blood- 
thirsty violence,  and  the  scenes  become 
indescribable.  Victor  Hugo,  in  trying  to 
describe  the  French  revolution,  says : 
''  The  gloomy   armed    men,  massed  to- 


gether, felt  an  appalling  spirit  enter  into 
them  ;  they  ceased  to  be  themselves  and 
became  demons.  There  was  no  longer  a 
single  French  soldier,  but  a  host  of  inde- 
finable phantoms,  carrying  out  a  horrible 
tas-k,  as  though  in  the  glimmering  light  of 
a  vision.  There  was  no  longer  a  flag; 
there  was  no  longer  law  ;  there  was  no 
longer  humanity  ;  there  was  no  longer  a 
country  ;  there  was  no  longer  France — 
they  began  to  assassinate.'^  Even  this 
language  fails  to  depict  the  horror  and 
misery  which  a  revolution  brings.  Men 
turn  into  brigands  and  women  become 
fiends.  Homes  and  hearthstones  are 
abolished.  All  that  is  held  sacred  is  vio- 
lated, and  where  peace  and  plenty  and  se- 
curity reigned,  want,  famine,  and  terror 
come  in  and  take  their  places. 
The  only  way  to  avoid  all  this  is  to  crush 

the  Democrats  right  out  of  Congress  by 

electing  Kepuhlicans. 

If  we  would  avoid  this  condition  of 
things  this  Tilden  and  Blair  revolution 
-must  be  crushed — crushed  now  and  crushed 
completely;  but  it  can  only  be  done  by 
electing  a  Republican  Congress  that  will 
set  the  seal  of  condemnation  upon  this 
one.  To  this  end  let  all  men  of  all  par- 
ties lend  their  energies  for  the  coming 
mouths. 


PART  11. 

Tlie  Potter  I^elter— Brief  Intro- 
ductory  Reniarlts— Me  Would 
Tlirow  the  Election  into  tlie 
Ilonse  to  make  Tilden's 
Cliances  Sure— Tlie  House  the 
Sole  Judge  of  Presidential 
Elections  and  can  act  alone  on 
its  own  Infoi'Miation !— It  i» 
*'  Supreme  "—The  Beioaocratie 
Mouse  Maving  Followed  his 
Advice,  Tilden  must  have  been 
Elected  if  Potter  is  to  he  Be- 
lieved—Tilden  as  Comiinandcr- 
in-€hief  of  the  Federal  Army  ! 

The  fact  that  Clarkson  N.  Potter,  of 
New  York,  the  next-door  neighbor,  at 
Gramercy  Park,  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  is 
at  the  head  of  the  House  Committee  now 
striving,  by  a  one-sided  investigation  of 
alleged  electoral  frauds  to  make  political 
capital  to  help  his  party  at  the  Congres- 
sional elections  and  to  lay  a  basis  for  the- 
new  conspiracy  to  seize  the  Presidency, 
naturally  draws  attention  to  his  famous 
letter  of  November  21,  1876,  published  in 
the  New  York  Herald  of  the  day  follow- 
ing.    In  that  letter  he  argued  for  the  Til- 


26 


den  cause  with  fallacious  subtleties  which, 
were  they  living,  would  have  turned  the 
old  Greek  sophists  green  with  jealousy 
and  envy,  and  would  do  honor  to  the  cas- 
uistry of  the  disciples  of  Loyola.  Then, 
grown  bold  upon  his  platform  of  sophis-* 
tries,  he  proposed  the  most  violent  meas- 
ure of  all  the  wild  and  anarchical  plans 
advanced  by  the  Tildenites  of  that  troubled 
period.  He  wanted  the  Democratic  House 
to  **take  the  bit  in  its  mouth,"  declare 
that  the  people  had  failed  to  elect,  and 
proceed  to  th  •  election  of  a  President.  In 
following  pages  it  will  be  found  that  on 
March  3,  1877,  by  a  strict  party  vote,  the 
House  did  "take  the  bit  in  its  mouth  " 
so  far  as  to  declare  that  Tilden  and  Hen- 
dricks were  duly  elected  President  and 
Vice  President.  No  doubt  Mr.  Potter, 
therefore  considers  Tilden  President  de 
jure,  and  the  latter  only  bides  his  time  for 
both  Houses  to  be  Democratic  to  assert 
his  pretensions  and  become  President  de 
facto.  This  letter,  written  by  Tilden' s 
next  door  neighbor  at  Gramercy  Park, 
and  ostensibly  QomcooXedi  at  hieWall-«treet> 
oflfioe,  was  believed  at  the  time  to  have 
been  inspired  by  Tilden  himself,  and  but 
for  the  fact  that  a  few  Democrats  refused  to 
be  governed  by  the  Tilden  revolutionary 
caucuses  the  treasonable  programme  which 
under  Tiden's  influence.  Potter  had  laid 
down,  might  probably  have  been  carrried 
outto  the  letter.  The  firm  attitude  of  Presi- 
dent Grant  in  declaring  that  whoever, 
under  the  electoral  count,  was  duly  de- 
clared filected  President,  would  be  inau- 
gurated, and  the  knowledge,  ascertained 
by  secret  emissaries,  that  the  army  would 
stand  firm,  and  could  not  be  corrupted  by 
Tiklen'-B  "  barMe  of  money,  had  much  to 
do  with  the  destruction  of  the  Tilden- 
Potter  programme  or  pronunciamento  for 
Mexicanizing  the  United  States.  Besides 
exhibiting  what  the  revolutionists  in- 
tended to  do,  the  Potter  letter  throws 
some  light  upon  proceedings  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic Honee  after  the  electoral  count, 
and  upon  the  new  treasonable  departure 
taken  under  the  personal  lead  this  time  of 
Potter  himself.  Following  is  the  closing 
portion  of  the  Potter  letter  aforesaid: 
He  would  have  the  ^Election  Throvm  Into 

the  House,  which  -would  have  Insured 

Tilden's  Election. 

If,  then,  the  vote  of  Louisiana  .shall  not  he 
counted,  and  Mr.  Hayes  should  be  allowed 
Florida  and  South  Carolina,  he  will  have  177 
votes  and  Mr.  Tilden  184,  and  then  cither  Mr. 
.Tilden  will  be  elected  or  there  will  be  no  elec- 
tion of  President.  And  it  will  then  become  the 
immediate  duty  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, under  the  express  direction  of  the  Con- 
stitution, to  proceed  to  choose  a  President  by 
the  votes  of  States,  each  State  having  one  vote, 
and  if  Mr.  Hayes  should  then  be  chosen  Presi- 
dent he  will  be  choson  absolutely  in  strictest 


I 


compliance  with  all  the  provisions  and  forms 
of  law,  and  will  be  as  absolutely  and  lawfully 
President  as  any  man  ever  was.  So.  too,  if  the 
House  should  choose  Mr.  Tilden. 

The  House  Is  a  Higher  L,aw  Unto  Itself— 
Responsibile  to  Nothing  and  Nobody— 
It  can  Act  Alone  !— It  is  the  "Sole  Judge" 
Whether  the  Pople  have  Elected  or  not, : 
and  Need  not  "Wait  the  Word  of  any  In- 
forming Body  Outside ! 

The  Constitui.ion  lias  provided  for  no  person 
or  body  to  notify  the  House  that  there  has 
been  no  okction  for  President  by  the  electors, 
nor,  by  deciding  whether  to  make  or  withhold 
such  notification,  to  judge  of  that  fact,  but  has 
left  the  House  sole  judge  of  the  happening  of 
the  contingency  calling  for  its  action.  As  one 
of  the  counters  of  the  electoral  vote  the  House 
must  necessarily  know  whether  that  vote  has 
resulted  in  a  choico,  and,  so  knowing,  does  not 
require  notification  of  the  fact.  Accordingly, 
had  the  Constitution  provided  for  a  notifica- 
tion to  the  House,  it  would  ha^^e,  been  to  make 
its  action  in  that  respect  dependent  on  some 
other  judgment  of  the  happening  of  that  con- 
tingency than  its  own.  But  i^istead  it  leaves 
the  House  to  act  upon  its  own  knowledge,  in- 
dependent of  the  action  of  any  other  body  or 
person,  and  directs  the  House  in  that  contin- 
gency, of  which  it  necessarily  has  knowledge, 
and  is  itself  to  ba  the  judge,  to  proceed  to 
choose  a  President. 

And  to  whom  could  the  question  of  whether 
the  power  was  to  be  exercised  bo  so  properly 
committed  as  to  the  body  which  is  to  exorcise 
the  power,  to  tha*.  great  popular  branch  of  the 
Government  which  specially  represents  the 
people,  and  whose  members,  of  all  those  con- 
nected with  the  Federal  Government,  are  alone 
elected  by  the  people 

The  Democratic  House  Being  "Supreme," 
•who  can  Dispute  the  Presidential  Au- 
thority of  Neighbor  Tilden  ? 

Having  then  the  ordinary  and  usual  author- 
ity of  every  superior  body,  invested  with  the 
exercise  of  a  supreme  function,  of  determining 
for  itself  the  occasion  when  it  may  be  lawfully 
exercised,  and  having,  therefore,  the  authority 
+0  decide  for  itself  whether  a  President  has 
been  chosen  by  the  electors  or  not,  and,  if  not, 
to  then  itself  choose  the  Piesid'^nt,  who  can 
lawfully  dispute  the  authority  of  the  President 
whom  the  House  of  Bepreeentatives  may  thus 
choose  ? 

All  who  Talk  Otherwise  "Talk  Rebellion " 
against  the  Lord's  Annointed. 

Gentlemen  who  talklighfcly.therefore.of  hav- 
ing the  Viae  President  of  the  Senate  receive 
and  count  the  vote  of  Louisiana  against  the 
objection  of  the  House,  or  of  choosing  some 
energetic  man  President  of  the  Senate  that 
they  may  have  a  forcible  officer  to  lead  tbe  Re- 
publican party  after  the  4th  of  March,  or  of  an 
interregnum  in  which  General  Grant  shall 
hold  ov«r,  talk  rebellion.  The  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives will  not  refuse  to  attend  the  count- 
ing of  the  electoral  vote;  it  Tvi'l  permit  the 
counting  of  every  vote  which  it  may  judge  law- 
ful to  bo  couated. 

No  Electoral  Vote  Valid  unless  Agreed  to 
by  the  House,and  unless  its  "  Judgment" 
Agrees  with  its  "  Concurrence "  and 
"Direction." 

And  no  vote  can  be  lawfully  counted  with- 
out its  concurrence  or  against  its  judgment  and 
direction. 


27 


Resistance  to  Tilden  isJDefiance^to  Law. 

gSlWhomfiver,  by  the  vote  so  counted,  shall  ap- 
pear to  have  the  majority  of  >4ll  the  electors 
appointed  will  be  President,  and  will  be  ac- 
cepted by  the  Democratic  party  as  such  ;  and 
whomever,  if  no  President  be  so  chosen,  the 
popular  branch  of  the  Government  shall  then, 
in  due  form,  choose  to  be  President,  will  be  so 
accepted  by  them;  and  it  will  be  those  who 
may  see  fit  to  resist  the  Executive,  thus  law- 
fully elected,  who  will  be  dofying  the  laws. 
No  Slight   Irregularity    can  ^Impair    the 

Title  of  "Me  Neighbor"  Tilden— If  a 
gglVIajority  of  each  one  of  <a  Majority  of 
:.;  States  Votes  for  Tilden^in  the  House  then 

He  is  Pi-esident. 

And  even  if  there  has  been  an  omission  in 
the  Constitution,  so  that,  strictly,  no  one  may  he 
elected  according  to  its  provisions,  what  could 
be  so  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  our  Govern- 
ment as  to  agree  upon  an  Executive  chosen  by 
the  House  of  Representatives.acting  by  States? 
That  is,  chosen  by  men  elected  directly  by  the 
people,  as  the  electors  are,  and  acting  by  States, 
as  the  electors  do.  It  was  to  the  House  that 
the  Consitution  committed  the  election  of  a 
President  in  the  only  contingency  of  a  failure 
to  choose  by  electors  then  foreseen.  Had  the 
convention  foreseen  the  contingency  now  as- 
sumed b^some  it  would,  of  cou'se,  have  com- 
mitted the  election  in  such  contingency  also  to 
the  House  of  Representatives. 
Why,  Tlien,  Not  Adopt  this  Course— (5Dhe 
House  Did  Adopt  It) -And  Thus  Sail  as 
Near  to  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Constitution  " 
as  India-Rubber  Constructionists  Like 
Tilden  and  Potter  Choose  To. 
Why,  then,  should  not  this  great  people  for- 
bear strife,  and  adopt  a  course  which,  if  no 
course  be  provided  for  by  the  Constitution, 
would  eccord  most  nearly  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Constitution?  The  more,  as  .the  result  thus 
reached  would  conform  to  the  wish  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  as  just  expressed. 

And  here  let  me  add  that  to  talk  of  a  Senate, 
in  which  a  majority  of  the  Ssnators  repre- 
sented less  than  one-fourth  of  the  people, 
whose  power  to  choose  a  President  is,  by  the 
Constitution,  confined,  first  to  the  failure  of  the 
electors  to  choose  one,  and  next  to  the  failure 
of  the  Hou^e  of  Representatives  to  choose  one 
by  the  4th  of  Maroh  following— .rotting  up  as 
their  presiding  oflicer  a  military  dictator,  to 
take  possession  of  the  Government  against  the 
President  regularly  chosen  by  the  House  of 
liepresentatives  and  backed  by  an  enormous 
popular  majority,  seems  to  me,  even  in  view  of 
Mr.  Frank  Blair's  famous  prophecy,  idle. 

Doubtless  the  supremacy  exercised  by  the 
Federal  authority  of  late  yoars,  and  the  desire 
of  property  owners  for  order,  even  at  the  price 
of  constitutional  liberty,  has  produced  a  pretty 
general  belief  that  any  one  who  can  command 
Federal  troops  can  do  anything. 

Tilden's  Claim  to  be  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  ITederal  Army— Potter  Believes 
the  People  will  Sustain  It. 

JJut  the  question  is  not  what  Federal  troops 
can  do,  but  who  it  is  that  is  entitled  to  be  their 
commander  and  head— a  wholly  different  ques- 
tion; and,  upon  that  question,  I  do  not  believe 
the  people  will  be  found  so  anxious  to  sustain 
fraud  to  keep  the  minority  in  power,  orr  so  un- 
willing to  maintain  their  constitutional  rights 
as  is  assumed. 

Truly  your  obedient  servant, 

CLARKSON  N.  POTTER, 
No.  61  Wall  street. 

November  21, 1876. 


PAET  III. 

Tlie  JEleetoral  Commiissioii  Act- 
Analysis  of  the  Votes  by  wliich 
it  Passed— It  was  Essentially 
a  Democratie  Measure  —  The 
Votes  in  full  in  Both  Honses. 

It  will  be  observed  by  analysis  of  the 
votes  cast  in  the  Senate  and  .House  upon 
the  passage  of  the  Electoral  Commission 
act — given  herewith — that  this  act,  now  so 
much  abused  by  the  Democrats,  and  the 
findings  under  which  they  now  pretend  to 
be  dissatisfied  with,  a;nd  which  they  pro- 
pose by  revolutionary  methods  to  over- 
turn, was  essentially  a  Democratic  meas- 
ure. The  Senate  vote  was  47  yeas  and  17 
nays— 10  not  voting.  Of  the  Republicans 
20  voted  yea,  17  voted  nay,  and  9  declined 
to  vote.  Of  the  Democrats  26  voted  yea, 
1  voted  Bay,  and  1  declined  to  vote. 
The  majority  for  it  therefore  comprised  26 
Democrats  and  20  Republicans.  TJie 
vote  against  it  comprised  17  Republicans 
and  only  1  .Democrat.  The  vote  in  the 
House,  on  passing  the  act,  illustrates  the 
fueling  of  the  two  parties  even  more 
strongly.  That  vote  was  191  yeai5  and  86 
nays — 14  not  voting.  Of  the  Republi- 
cans only  33  vrrted  yea,  68  voted  nay — 7 
not  voting.  Of  the  Democrats  158  voted 
yea,  only  18  voted  nay — 7  not  voting. 
The  majority  for  it,  therefore,  comprised 
158  Democrats  and  only  33  Republicans. 
The  vote  against  it  comprised  68  Repub- 
licans and  only  18  Democrats.  Taking 
the  aggregate  vote  in  the  two  Houses,  it 
will  be  found  that  only  53  Republicans 
voted  for  the  measure  and  85  RepublicanB 
voted  against  it;  while  184  Democrats  voted 
for  it,  and  only  19  Democrats  voted  against 
it.  The  Republicans  of  both  branches  of 
Congress  therefore  stood  opposed  to  the 
measure  nearly  in  the  pro^portion  of  2  to 
to  1 ;  and  the  Democrats  of  both  branches 
stood  by  the  bill,  and  "put  it  through" 
nearly  in  the  proportion  of  10  to  1. 

If  this  state  of  fiicts  does  no;  prove  it  a 
Democratic  measure  then  all  proofs  would 
be  useless. 

The  Senate  i'V^otelin  Full. 


The  vote  in  the  ^Seuate,  January  2a, 
1877,  on  the  passage  of  the  Electoral 
Commission  bill  was,  in  detail, :as  follows: 

Teas— Messrs.  Aloorn,  Allison,  Barnum,  Bay- 
ard, Bogy,  Booth,  Boutwell.  Bumside,  Chaffee, 
Ohristiancy.  CbcA-re^Z,  Conkling,  Cooper,  Cragin, 
Davis,  of  West  Virginia,  D-iwes,  Dennis,  Ed- 
munds, 'Frelinghuy^en,  Goldthwaite,  Gordon, 
Howe,  Johnston,  Jones,  of  Florida,  .Tones,  of 
Nevada,  Kelly,  Kernan,  McG'-eery,  M'-Donald, 
McMillan,  Maxey,  Merrimon,  Morrill,  Pi-iae, 
Randolph,  Ransom.  Hobertson,  Sauhbury,  Sha- 
ron, Stevenson.  Teller.  Thurman,  Wallace,  Whyte, 
Windom,  Withers,  Wright— 47. 

Nays— Messrs.  Blaine,  Bruce,  Cameron,  of 


28 


Pennsylvania.Camoron,  of  Wisconsin.  Clayton, 
C)nover.  Doraoy,  Euton,  Hatnilton,  Hamlin, 
Inpalls,  Mitohel".  Morton,  Patterson,  Sargent, 
Shf'rtnan,  Wen— 17. 

Not  Votinm!— M-iSsrd.  Anthony.  Ferry.  U'lr- 
vey.  Uitohoook.  Lxjan.  Pforwoo'l,  Ojrlesby,  Pad- 
dock. Spencer,  Wadleigh— 10. 

The  House  Vote  in  Full. 

The  vote  in  the    House  of  Representa 
lives,  January  26,  1877,  on  the  passage  of 
the  electoral  commission  bill,  was  in    de- 
tail as  follows  : 

Ykas— Messrs.  Abbott,  A  lams,  Aimicorth, 
Anderson,  Arhe,  Att! a u  Bogby,  G.  A.  BafjJev 
J  U  Bat/lev.  Jr.,  Banning,  Be-be,  S.  JV.  Bell. 
Blf>nd,  lili-8,  Jifount,  Boone,  Bradley,  Bright, 
J.  Y.  Broton.  Bni-.kne",  S.  I).  Bur  chard,  Bur- 
leigh. Cabell,  W.  P.  Caldwell,  A.  Campbell, 
Candler.  Cauljidd,  Chapin,  Chittenden.  J.  B. 
Clarke,  J.  B.  Clark.  Jr.,  Clumer,  Cochr»ne, 
Cook,  Cowan,  Cox,  Crapo.  GulherHon,  Cutler, 
Darnill,  /.  J,  Davis.  Davy.  De  Bolt,  Dibrell, 
BouphiH,  Bar  'nd.  Eden.  ElUx.  Faulkner,  Fel- 
ton.  D.  D.  Field  J.  J.  Fialei;.  Fo^f  er,  Fmnklin. 
Fulle  ,  Gauie,  Gibson,  Glove;  G>o</e,  Goodin, 
Guntcr,  A.  H.  HamHton,  R.  Hamilton.  Hancock, 
JLodeuburgh,  B.  W.  Hiirris.  //.  R.  Harris,  J. 
T.  Harris,  Harrison,  Hirtridge,  Hartz  II, 
Hatcher',  H'« thorn.  Haymund.  Henkle.  Hereford, 
A.  S.  Hewitt,  G  W,  Hewitt,  Hill,  Hoar,  Holman, 
Hooker,  Hopkins,  Hoskins.  House.  Humphreijs, 
Hunter,  i/  nton,  Jenks,  F.  Jone-.  Kehr,  Kelley, 
Lamar,  F.  Landers,  G.  M.  Land  rs.  Lane, 
Leavenworth,  Le  Moyne.  Levy,  Lerois,  Luttrell, 
Lyndc.  Muckey,  Maish.  MacDoug*!!,  MoCrary. 
McDill.  McFadand  Mc Ma hon,  Meade.  H  B. 
Metcalf,  Miller,  Money.  Morgan,  Morrison, 
MutC'der,  L.  T.  Neat,  New.  Norton.  O'^/iVn, 
Oliver,  Payne,  Phelps.  J.  F.  Phillivs,  Pierce. 
Piper,  Piatt,  Potter.  Poxoed.  liea,  lieagnn.  J. 
Jieilly.  J.  B.  Reilly,  Bice,  Riddle,  J.  Hobbins, 
W.  M.  Bobbins,  Roberts,  M.  Ross,  Sampson, 
S'^ivage,  Sayler.  Scales.  Schleicher,  Seelye. 
Sheakley,  South  -rd,  Sp'>rks.  Springer,  Stanton, 
Stenper,  Strait,  Stevenson.  W.  H,  Stone,  Swann, 
J.  K,  Tarbox.  Teese.  Terry.  Thomas,  C.  P. 
Thomp  on.  Throckmorton,  W.  Townshend. 
Tucker,  Turner,  H.  B,  Vance,  Waddell,  C.  C. 
B  Walker,  G.  C.  Walker,  Walling,  Walsh.  E. 
Wird,  Warner,  Warren,  Wat  erson,  E.  WcHi, 
Q.  W  Wells.  Wkitehoase,  Whitthorne,  Wike, 
Willnrd.  A.  S.  Williams,  J.  Williams,  W.  B. 
Williams.  Willis.  Wilshirc,  B.  Wils  .n,  .J.  Wil- 
son. F.  Wood,  Yeates.  Youny,  and  ihe  Speaker 
-191. 

NAYS-Messrs.  J.  H.  B^ker,  W.  H.  Baker. 
Ballou,  Banks.  Blackburn,  Blair,  Bradford,  W. 
R.  Brown.  H.  C.  Burchard.  Bult^.  /.  //.  Cald- 
well, Cannon.  Carr,  Caswell,  Cate,  Conger, 
Crounse,  Dauford,  Denison,  Dobbins.  Dunnel', 
Durham,  Eames,  J.  L.  Evans.  Fiye.  Forney, 
Fort.  Freeman.  Fryc,  Garfield,  Hale,  Haralson, 
Hendee,  Henderson.  Hoge,  Hubbell,  Hurd, 
Hurlburt,  Hyman.  T.  L.  Jones,  Joyce.  Kasson, 
Kimball,  Knott.  Lapbam.  Lawrence,  Lynch, 
Magoon,  Milliken,  Milts,  Monroe,  Nash, 
O'Neill.  Packer.  Page,  Plaisted,  Poppleton 
Pratt,  Purman.  Rainey.  Robinson,  Rusk.  Sin- 
gleton, Sinnickson.  Slemons,  Snialls,  A.  H. 
Smith,  W.  E.  Smith,  SmwbU,  Tbornburgh.  M. 
I.  Townsend,  Tufts.  Van  Vorhes,  J.  L  Vance, 
Wait.  Waldron,  A.  S.  Wallace.  J.  W,  AVallace, 
J.  D.  White,  Whiting,  A.  Vfilliams,  C.  G.  Wil- 
liams. J.  lY.  Williams,  A.  Wood,  jr.,  Woodburn, 
Woodworth— 8o. 

Not  Voting— Messrs.  Bass.  Cason.  Collins, 
Egbert,  Hays,  King,  Lord,  Od,ll,  AY.  A.  Phil- 
lips, S.  Ross,  Schumaker,  Stephens,  Wheeler, 
Wig^inton — 14. 


The    Electoral    Count— Tlie    Vote    a.s    AnT 
nounced— Final  Separation  of  tlie  Houses- 
— Subsequent  llevolutionary  Proceedinga 
in    tlie    Democratic    House,  before    Ad- 
journment of  the  Forty  to tirtli Congress — 
Field's  (J  uo  Wamint<»  Bill  and  Vote  on  it,. 
The  counting  of  the   electoral  vote  of 
the  States  commenced   February  1,  1877, 
and   did  not  end   until   March  2,  at  four- 
o'clock  a.  m.,  each  House  having  been  in 
session  continuously  from   March  1,  at  10 
o'clock  a.  m. 

When  the  counting  of  the  vote  of  the 
States  WHS  concluded  and  the  tellers  hadl* 
announced  the    result  of  tlie  footings,  the 
Presiding  Officer  of  the  two  Houses  de- 
clared Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio,  tho 
duly   elected    President,  and    William  A. 
Wheeler,  of  New  York,  the  duly  elected 
Vice  President   for   the   four  years  com- 
menci'g  March  4,  1877 — whereupon  the 
two  Houses  finally  separated. 
Tlie  Electoral  Vote  of  the  States  as  De- 
clared by  tlie  Two  Houses,  l>ein<>;  tlie  Evi- 
dence of  Title  which  nothing  can  shake, 
even    tliough  a  new  Rebellion  be   Suc- 
cessful. 

The  vote  for  President  was  announced, 
as  follows  : 


Vote. 

States. 

1 
Hayrs 

Tilden. 

10 

6 

10 

Arkansas  

6 

Q 

Ciilifornia       

6 
3 

6 
3 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

6 
3 

4 

Florida         

i 

11 

Georgia                       

11 

21 

Illinois 

21 

15 

Indiana                 . 

15 

11 

'owa                           • 

11 
5 

s"" 

7 

'■■■l3'"' 
11 
5 

5 

12 
8 

Kentucky 

12 

7 

Maine 

8 

13 
11 

5 
8 

Maryland 

8 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

8""' 

15 

15 

3 
3 

5 

Nebraska ..-. 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire 

3 
3 

5 

9 

35 

New  York i 

35 

10 
22 

10 

Ohio         

22 
3 
4 

29 

Oregon 

Rhode  Island 

4 

29 
7 

12 
8 





12 

Texas                 

8 

5 
11 

5 
10 

Vermont . 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 

5 

""lo"" 

11 
5 

Total 

369 

i    185 

1 

184 

29 


David  Dudley  Field's  Quo  Warranto  Bill- 
Being  one  of  the  Moves  in  Tilden's  Crafty 
Game. 

March  2,  1877. — The  very  game  day  when 
the  vote  for  Hayes  was  declared  by  both 
Houses,  David  Dudley  Field,  from  the 
select  committee  on  'he  privilege^^,  pow- 
ers and  duties  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives in  counting  the  vote  for  President 
and  Vice  President,  hastened  to  report  a 
billentitled  ^'- An  act  to  provide  an  effectual 
remedy  for  a  wrongful  intrusion  into  the 
office  of  President  or  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States y 

Vote  by  which  the  Quo  "Warranto  Bill  was 
I.ost. 

The  vote  on  the  passage  of  the  above 
quo  warranto  bill  was  G6  yeas  (all  of  them 
Uemocrats)  to  99  nays,  which  comprised 
76  Republicans  and  23  Democrats,  while 
of  those  not  voting  89  Democrats  seem  to 
have  been  "watching  how  the  cat  jumped." 
In  detail  the  vote  was: 

Ykas — Messrs.  ./.  //.  J3(if/ley,  Jr.,  Banniiif/. 
Beebe,  S.  N.  Bell,  Boone,  J.  Y.  liroici,  W.  P. 
Caldwell,  Candler,  Cate,  CauJJlehl,J.  B.  Clarke. 
J.  Ji  Clark,  jr.,  Collin'^.  S.  S.  Cor,  J.  J.  Davis, 
dJe  n  .It,  Elm.  Ellis,  D.  B.  Field.  J.  J.  Finlev, 
Franhlin,  Fuller,  Gau~e,  Clover,  A.  H.  Hamil- 
ton, Hardc'-hergh,  J.  T.  Harris.  Hartzcll, 
Hatcher,  Hill.  Holnian,  Hooker,  A.  Huniphreys, 
T.  L  Jonen,  F.  Landers,  Lane,  Levy.  Lord,  Lnt- 
4rell,  Lynde,  Meade,  Morrinon,  Ij.  T.  Neal, 
P'Vne,  Poppleton,  A.  V.  Bice  J.  Bobbins,  M. 
Boss.  S^'fdes,  Schleicher,  Sheakley,  Slemovs, 
Sparks,  Swinger,  Teese.  Terry,  Thomas,  Tucker, 
J.  L,  Vance,  B.  B.  Vnnee,  G.  C.  Walker.  E. 
Wells,  Whitthorne,  Wiggin  on,  B.  Wilson, 
Yentes—Qd 

Nays— Messrs.  Abbott,  Adams,  Alnsworth, 
J.  H.  Baker,  W.  H.  B  .ker,  Ballou  B^nks.  Bel- 
f. )rd.  Blair.  Bradford.  Bradley,  W.  R.  Brown, 
Backner,  Burleigh.  Buttz,  J.  H.  Caldioell.  Can- 
non, Caswell,  Chitienden.  Conger,  Crapo, 
Crounse.  Culberson  Cutler,  Danford,  D  irrall, 
Davy,  Denison,  Dobbins,  Dannell,  Eames, 
Forney,  Foster,  Freeman.  Frye,  Garfield, 
(loodin.  Haralson.  B.  W.  Harris  Hathorn,  C. 
\i%ys,  Hopkins,  House,  Hubbe'l,  Hunter,  Hurl- 
but,  Jenks.  Joyce,  Kisson,  Kehr.  Kelley,  Kim- 
ball, G.  M.  Landers,  Laphtim,  Lawrence.  Le 
Mayne,  Lynch,  M-icDuugall,  McDill,  Mills. 
Mofiroe.  Ne>c,  Oliver,  O'Neill,  Packer,  P-ige, 
W.  A  Phillips.  Pierce,  Pratt,  Rainey,  J.  B. 
Beilly,  Riddle.  M  S.  Robinson.  Sampson,  C.  P. 
Thompson,  Thornburgh.  M.  I  Townsend,  W. 
Townsend.  Tults,  Wait.  Waldron,  A  S.  Wal- 
lace, J.  W.  Wallace,  Warren.  J.  D.  White, 
Whitehouse  Willard  C.  (4.  Wlliams,  W.  B. 
Williams,  B.  A.  Willis,  J.  Wilson— 99. 

Not  Votin'g— Messrs.  Anderson,  Ashe,  At- 
kins, Bagby,  li.  A.  Bigley,  B-ss.  Blackburn, 
Jiland,  Bliss.  Blount,  Ji  right,  H.  C.  Burchard, 
S.  D.  Burchard,  Cabell,  A.  Campbell,  Carr, 
Oason,  Chapin,  Clymer,  Cochrane,  Cook,  Cowan, 
Bibrell,  Douglas,  Durand,  Durham.  Egbert, 
J.  L.  Evans,  Faulkner.  Felfon,  Flye,  Fort,  Gib- 
son, Goode  Gunter,  Hale.  B.  Hamilton,  Han- 
cock, H.  B.  Harris.  Harrison,  Hartridge,  Hay- 
mond,  Hendee,  Henderson,  Henkle,  A.  S 
Hewitt,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  Hoar,  Hoge.  Hoakins, 
Hunton,  Ilurd,  Hyman,  F.  Jones,  King,  Knott, 
Lamar.  Lewis,  Mackey,  Magoon,  Maish,  Mc- 
Cr-.ry,  McFarlu7id,  McMahon,  H.  B.  Metcalfe, 
Miller,  Milliken.  Mono/,  Morgan,  Mutchler, 
Na.h.  Norton.  O'Brien,  Odell,  I^helps,  J.  F. 
Philips,  Piper,  Piaisted,  Piatt  Potter,  Powell, 


Purman,  Rea,  Bcapan,  J.  Reilly.  W.  M.  Rot- 
bins,  Roberts.  8.  Ross.  Ru.»k,  Savage.  Sayler, 
Schumaker,  Singleton,  W.  E.  Smith,  Southard, 
Stanton,  Stenger,  Stephens.  W.  Stone,  Swann, 
Throckmorton.  Turner.  Van  Vorhes,  C.  C  B. 
Walker,  Walling,  Walsh,  E.  Ward,  Warner, 
Wa'terson,  G.  W.  Wells.  Wheeler,  Whiting, 
Wike,  A.  Williams,  A  S.  Williams.  J.  Wil- 
j  Hams,  J.N.  Williams.  Wilshire,  A.  Wood,  jr., 
F.  l^oot^,  Woodburn,  AVood worth.  Young.— 125. 

PART  IV. 

House  Committee  Report  aflirm- 

j      iiig  tlie  rigUt  of  tlie  House  to 

j      go    I>eliiu<l   the    Electoral  Re- 

t«irns,  auil  *'tlie  autliority  of 

i      tlie  House  over  the  counting" 

thereof— Resolution  Reporte«l 

to  tiaal  Etfect— Vote  on  Burcli- 

ard's  Amen<lment  to.  it. 

i      March    3,    1877,    David    Dudley  Field, 
Democrat,  from  the  Committee  on  Priv- 
:  ileges,  &c.,  made  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  on  the  Privileges,  Powers, 
'■  and  Duties  of  the  House  ot  Representatives,  in 
I  counting  the  vote  for  President  and  Vice  Prej"!- 
dent  of  the  United  States  report,  in  part,  that 
since  their  partial  report  of  certain  resolutions, 
made  to  this  House  on  the  12th  day  of  January 
last,  the  passage  of  the  act  entitled  "An  act  to 
provide  for  and  regulate  the  counting  of  votes 
for  President  and  Vice  President,  and  the  de- 
cision of  questions  iirising  thereon,  for  the  term 
commencing  March  4.  A.  D.  1877,"  and  the  pro- 
:  ceedings  under  it,  have  interrupted  the  discus- 
sion of  the  said  resolutions  and  the  action  of 
I  House  thereon;    but  that  the  refusal    of  the 
Electoral  Commission,  constituted   by  the  said 
act  to  hear  any  evidence  touching  the  frauds 
and  want  of  jurisdiction  of  the  canvassing  and 
I  returning  boards  of  !<  lorida  and  Louisiana,  has 
j  made  it  so  much  the  more  important  to  affirm 
the  said  resolutions  and  the  authority  of  this 
How-e  over  the   coun  ing  of  the   electoral  votes, 
and  especially  the  right  of  Congress  and  of  the 
House  to  inquire  whether  any  votes  purporting 
to  come  from  a  State  have  been  cast  by  persons 
I  duly  appointed  by  that  State  electors  of  Presi- 
!  dent  and  Vice  President  in   the   manner  di- 
i  rected  by  its  Legislature,  ond  for  that  purpose 
\  to  receive  evidence  of  the  forgery,  falsehood, 
;  or  iavAlidity  of  any  certificate  of  any  Governor 
j  or   canvasser    whomsoever.      The    committee 
1  therefore  recommend  the  passage  of  the  foUow- 
!  iijg  additional  resolution: 

Besolv-d,  That  in  the  counting  of  the  elec- 
toral votes  of  any  State  it  is  the  right  and  duty 
of  Congress  and  of  this  House  to  inquire  whether 
any  votes  purporting  to  come  from  a  State 
have  been  cast  by  persons  duly  appointed  by 
that  State  electors  of  President  and  Vice 
President  in  the  manner  directed  by  its  Legis- 

I  lature,  and   for  that  purpose   to  receive  evi- 
{    dence  of  the  forgery,  falsehood,  or  invalidity 

i  of  any  certificate  of  any  Governor  or  canvasser 

I I  whomsoever. 

j    Mr.     Bnrchard's   Amendment     and    Vote 
i  Thereon. 

1      After  Proctor  Knott,  Democrat,  had  of- 
i    fered    an   amendment — which    he    subse- 
quently withdrew — Mr.  H.   C.  Burchard, 
Kepublican,  from  the  minority  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Privileges,  &c.,  moved  to  amend 


30 


Mr.  Fields'  resolution  by  adding  to  it  these 
words: 

Aflfecting  the  genuioenesB  or  proper  Kuthenti- 
oation  of  such  certificates,  but  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  questioning  the  number  of  votes  by 
which,  as  shown  from  the  certificate  of  duly 
autborij^ed  canvassing  officers  of  the  State,  the 
electors  msy  have  been  appointed. 

The  amendment  was  disagreed  to — yeas 
84,  (all  Republicans,  save  one,)  nays  122, 
(all  Democrats.)  not  voting  84,  as  follows : 

Yeas— Messrs.  Adams,  G.  A.  Bagley,  W.  H. 
Baker.  Ballou,  Banks,  S.  N.  Bell,  Bradley,  W. 
R.  Brown,  H.  C.  Burchard.  Burleigh,  Buttz, 
Cannon,  Caswell,  Chittenden,  Conger.  Crapo, 
Crounse,  Danford,  Darrall,  Denison,  Dobbins, 
Eames.  J.  L.  Evans,  Flye,  Foster,  Freeman, 
Frye,  Gai field.  Hale  Haralson,  B.  W.  Harris, 
Hatborn,  C.  Hays,  Hendeo,  Henderson,  Hos- 
kins,  Hubbell,  Hunter,  Hurlbut,  Hyman,  Joyce, 
Kasson,  Kelley,  Lapham,  Lawrence,  Leaven- 
worth, Magoon,MacDougall,  McCrary,  McDill, 
Monroe,  Nash*  Nort-  n,  Oliver,  O'Neill,  Packer, 
Page,  W.  A.  Phillips,  Plaisted,  Piatt,  Rainey, 
M.  S.  Robinson,  S.  Ross.  Sampson,  Seelye,  Sin- 
nickson,  Smalls,  A.  H.  Smith.  Stowell,  Strait, 
Thornburgh.  Tufts,  Wait,  A.  S.  Wallace.  J.  W. 
Wallace,  G.  W.  W».lls,  J.  D.  White.  Whiting, 
A.  Williams,  C.  G.  Williams,  J.Wilson,  A.  Wood, 
jr..  Woodbum,  Woodworth— 84. -«i* 


Nays. — Mecsrs.  Ainsicorth,  Ashe,  Atkins, 
Baghy.  J.  H.  Bagicy,  jr..  Banning,  Blackburn, 
Bland,  Bliss,  Blount,  Boone,  Bradford,  Bright, 
J.  Y.  Brown,  J.  H.  Caldwell,  W.  P.  Caldwell, 
J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B.  Clark,  jr.,  Clymer,  Cochrane, 
Collins,  Cook,  Cowan,  S.  S.  Cox,  J.  J.  Davis, 
De  Bolt,  Durham,  Ellis,  Faulkner.  D,  D.  Field, 
J.  J.  Finley,  Forney,  Franklin,  Fidler,  Gause, 
'  Gibson,  Glover..  Goode,  Gunter,  A.  H.  Hamilton, 
R.  Hamilton,  Hardenburgh,  H.  B.  Harris,  J.  T. 
Harris,  Harrison,  Hat-tridge,  Hartzell,  Hatcher, 
Henkle,  Hooker,  Hopkins,  House,  Hunton,  Huret, 
JenJcs,  T.  L.  Jones,  Knott,  F.  Landers,  G.  M. 
Landers,  Le  Moyne,  Levy,  Lord,  Luttrell,  Lynde, 
Mackey,  McFarland,  McMah^m,  Meade,  Mills, 
Money,  Mutchler,  L.  T.  Neal,  New,  Odell,  Payne, 
Phelps,  J.  F.  Philips,  Poppleton,  liea,  J.  B. 
Reilly,  J.  Reilly,  A.  V.  Rice,  Riddle,  J.  Rob- 
bins,  W.  M.  Bobbins,  Roberts,  Savage,  Sayler, 
Scales,  Sheakley,  Slemona,  W.  E.  Smith,  South- 
ard, Sparks,  Springer,  Stanton,  Stenger,  W.  H. 
Stone,  Sicann,  J.  K,  Tarbox.  Teese,  Terry, 
Thomas,  C.  P.  Thompson,  Throckmorton,  Tucker, 
Turney,  J.  L.  Vance,  R.  B.  Vance.  Waddell, 
Wallimg,  Wal^h,  Warner,  E.  Wells,  Whitthorne, 
Wigginton,  Wike,  J.  Williams,  J.  N.  Williams, 
B,  A.  Willis,  B.  Wilson,  Yeaics—ITL 


Not  Voting— Messrs.  AhljottTAnderson,  J. 
H.  Baker,  Bass*,  Bcebe,  Belfordv Blair,  Buckner, 
S.  J'.  Burchard,  Cabell.  A,  Camttbell,  Candler, 
Carr,  Cason,  Cate,  Caul  field,  Chapin,  Culberson, 
Cutler,  Davy.  Dibrell,  Douglas,  Dannell,  Du- 
rand,  Eden,  Egbert,  Felton,  Fort,  Goodin,  Han- 
eock,  Haymond,  A.  S.  Heioitt,  G.  W.  Hetoitt, 
Hill,  Boar.  Hoge,  Holman,  A.  Humphreys,  F. 
Jones,  Kehr,  EimbalJ,  King.  Lamar,  Lane, 
Leicis,  Lynch,  Muish,  H.  B.  Metcalfe,  Miller, 
Milliken,  Morgan.  Morrison,  OBrien,  PiiTce-, 
Piper,  Potter,  Potcell,  Pratt,  Purman,  Reagan, 
M.  Boss,  Rusk,  Schleicher,  Sehv/tnaker,  Single- 
ton, Steihens.  Stevenson,  M.  I.  Townsend,  W, 
Townsend,  Van  Vorhes.  Waldron,  C.  C.  B. 
Walker,  G.C.  Walker.  E.  Ward,  Warren,  Waiter- 
son,  Wheeler,  Whitehow-e,  Willard,  A.  S.  Wil- 
liams,  W.  B.  Williams,  Wilshire,  F.  Wood, 
Young^-M. 

Mr.  Field'sfresolution  was  then  agreed 
to. 


PART  V.  I 

Morrisou'js  Jjetter  on  Tildeu's 
•'  I.ack  of  Pluck"  —  TiHIeii 
thonght  ho  had  "packed" 
the  Electoral  ComiBiii^Niou  — 
Hendricki^  Urges  the  Ilonse  to 
Declare  Tildeii  and  Ilimi-^eir 
el^ctetl— Votes  by  which  the 
House  makes  that  Revolution- 
ary Declaration  —  ISnbsequent 
Democratic  Protect,  declarii  g 
Hayes  **  a  Usurper !"  —  The 
House  Democrats  officially  no- 
tify Tilden  that  he  was  '*  duly 
electe«l  President"— Did  Til- 
den take  the  oath  ?— Revolu- 
tionary talk  — Hewitt's  en- 
forced Resignation  and  pecu^ 
liar  Apology— Judge  Black's 
Revolutionary  Thret^t. 

Letter  from  the  Democratic  Licatler  Mor- 
rison to  the  Seven  Men  among,  liis  Con- 
stituents who  were  not  Satisiied  and 
wanted  a  New  Election^ 

In  the  New  York  World,  March  5,  1877, 
appears  a  letter  written  by  W.  R.  Morri- 
son, the  then  Democratic  leader  of  the 
House  and  Chairman  of  Ways  and  Means, 
which  contains  two  or  three  pregnant  ad- 
missions worth  noticing.  It  was  written 
February  24,  1877,  in  answer  to  a  dispatch 
of  same  date,  received  by  him  from 
Messrs.  L.  H.  Hite  and  six  others,  of 
East  St.  Louia,  111.,  in  which  they  say  : 

American  institutions  and  constitutional  lib- 
erty demand  that  the  conspiracy  shall  not  suc- 
ceeid.  Our  party  can  prevent  it  without  resort- 
ing to  revolutionary  measures,  for  the  partisan 
decisions  of  the  Electoral  Commission  command 
no  rwpect.    Give  us  a  new  eleetion. 

He  tell»  tha  Seven  Foolish  Virgins  they 
have  trimmed  their  Lamps  "too  late,  I 
Fear" — The  Democratic  licader's  Idea  of 
"  Good  Faith," 

Morrison's  reply  ran  thus: 

Dear  Sirs  :  Your  dspatch  has  been  received. 
I  fear  it  Is  too  late  to  accomplish  wh.^t  you  sug- 
gest, and  what  the  right  and  jastice  of  th«  case 
demand.  Many  of  our  friends,  and  some  of  the 
most  influential  think,  or  pretend  to  think,  that 
that  we  are  bound  by  oblig'ations  of  good  faith 
to  go  on,  under  the  Electoral  Commission  bill, 
to  see  Hayes  fraudulently  counted  in.  There 
are  so  man?  of  this  way  of  thinking  that  this 
result  seems  to  me  to  be  inevitable. 

He  lets  out  the  Truth  on  Tild«n— Charges 
Hini' with  lack  of  "Plucl<,"hut  thin3t»it 
is  to  Tilden^s  "  Credit"  that  he  agreed  to  ; 
the    Electoral    Commission    be«au'!»e-  l*e  | 

1^  thoiTght  it  would  be  "packed"  in  his  in-  j 

terest.:^.;     r^n     mit       i^S       «'^i'-i 

The  truth  is  that  cur    great   man  TildenJ 


31 


able  as  lie  undoubtedly  is,  did  not  have  the 
pluck  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  occasion 
at  the  right  time,  though  I  suppose  it  must  be 
said  to  his  credit  that  when  this  commission 
was  gotten  up  it  was  expected  that  Davis 
would  be  the  eighth  man. 

The   Tiling   is   L.ost>— Morrison   never   Be- 
lieved in  Electoral   Commissions. 

I  look  upon  this  thing  as  lost,  though  our 
folks  could  keep  Hayes  tut  if  they  were  united, 
and  possibly  could  secure  a  new  election  ;  but 
Lamar,  Hill,  AVatterson,  Wood.  Wells  and 
many  others  say  they  intend  to  let  Hayes  go 
through,  and  believe  themselves  bound  to  do 
so.  I  never  had  any  faith  in  the  electoral  pro- 
ject, but  everybody  in  the  country  seemed  to 
favor  it,  and  when  I  returned  from  New  Or- 
leans it  was  already  settled  upon  as  the  way 
out.    Respectfully  yours,     W.  R.  Morrison. 

Hendricks  Openly  JEncouraged  the  Adop- 
tion of  the  House  Resolution  Declaring 
Tilden  Elected  President. 

A  meeting  of  Democrats  at  Indian- 
apolis, March  4,  1877,  (according  to  New 
York  World  of  the  5ch),  called  to  delib- 
erate as  to  the  attitude  of  Democracy, 
sent  a  dispatch  to  Senator  McDonald,  of 
Indiana : 

Your  friends  at  home  desire  that  you  should 
take  no  part  in  the  inauguration  of  Hayes. 

The  same  telegram  states  that  Hen- 
dricks said  of  the  House  resolution  de- 
claring Tilden  and  Hendricks  elected  : 

The  House  should  pass  such  a  resolution, 
though  it  would  have  no  practical  effect. 

Proctor  Knott's  Resolution  "  Solemnly 
Declaring"  that  Tilden  "Received  196 
Electoral  Votes,"  and  was  "Thereby 
Duly  Elected  President"— Votes  in  the 
House  on  Question  of  Consideration. 

March  3,  1877,  Proctor  Knott,  Demo- 
arat,  from  the  Committee  on  Privileges  of 
the  House,  etc.,  submitted  to  the  House 
a  long  preamble,  ending  with  the  follow- 
ing resolution  : 

Resolved  hy  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  That  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  House  to  declare,  that  Saanuel  J.  Tilden, 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  received  196  elec- 
toral voles  for  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  all  of  which  votes  were  cast  and 
lists  thereof  signed,  certified  and  transmitted 
to  the  seat  of  Government,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate,  in  conformity  with  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  by 
electors  legally  elected  and  qualified  as  such 
electors,  each  of  whom  had  been  duly  ap- 
pointed andeligiblo,  in  the  manner  directed  by 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  and  for  which 
he  cast  his  vote  as  aforesaid :  and  that  said 
Samuel  J.  Tilden,  having  thus  received  the 
votes  of  a-  majority  of  the  electors  appointed 
as  aforftsaid,  he  was  therebj  duly  elected  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States  of  America  for  the 
term  of  four  yearji,  commencing  on  the  4th  day 
of  March,  A.  D  1877:  and  this  Hou?e  further 
declare  that  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  having  re- 
ceived the  same  number  of  the  eleotnral  votes 
for  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States  that  were  Ciist  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  for 
President,  as  aforesaid,  the  said  vo'es  having 
been  cast  for  him  by  the  same  persons  who 
voted  for  tha  said  Tilden  for  President,  as 
aforesaid,  and  at  the  same  time  and  in  the 


same  manner,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  House 
that  said  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  the  State 
of  Indiana,  wag  duly  elected  Vice  Presdent 
of  the  United  States  for  a  term  of  four  years, 
commencing  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  A.  D. 
1877. 

Straight  Party  Vote  on  Question  of  "  Con- 
sideration." 
The  question  of  consideration  being 
raised,  it  was  decided  to  consider  the  res- 
olution, by  146  yeas  to  82  nays,  62  not 
voting. 

Yeas — Messrs. AhboM,Ainiworth,  A>)h^.,  Atkin9, 
Bayby,  J.  H.  Bayk^y,  Jr.,  Becbc,  Blo.ckhurny 
Bland.  BHt^,  Boone,  Brndfoid,  Bright,  J.  Y. 
Brown.  Buckner,  S.  D-  Burckard,  J.  II.  Cald- 
well, W.  P.  Caldwell,  Cundler,  Carr.  Ciulfield, 
J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B.  Clark,  jr.,  Clymer,  Cochrane, 
Collins,  Cook,  C >ioan,  Cuihevson,  Cutler,  J.  J. 
Davis,  DkBoH,  D  brdl,  Douglas,  Durhckm. Ellis, 
Faulkner,  D.  D.  Field,  J.  J.  Fi'lsu,  Forney, 
Franklin,  Fuller,  Oause,  Gbson,  Glover,  Goode, 
Gunter,  A.  H.  Hamilton,  R  .Hamilton,  H\j^rden- 
bergh,  H.  R.  Harris,  J.  T.  Harris,  Harrison, 
Hartridge,  Hartzell,  Hatcher,  Haymond,  Ilenkle, 
A.S.  Heioitt, Hooker,  Hopkins,  Hnuse,  .A  H(mp- 
hr-ys,  Hunton,  Hurd,  Jenks,  T.  L.  Jones,  Knott, 
Lamar,  F.  Landers,  Lane,  Le  Moyne,  Levy, 
Lord,  Luttrell,  fjynde,  Mackey,  McFarland,  . 
McMahon,  Meade,  Mills,  Money,  Morrison, 
Mu'chler,  L.  T.  Neal,  New,  O'Brien,  Odell. 
Payne,  Phelps,  J.  F.  Philips,  Poppleton^ 
Powell,  Purman,  Rea,  J.  Reillv,  J.  B.  Reilly, 
A.  V.  Rice,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Robbins,  Roberta, 
M.  Ro»s,  Savage,  Say  It  r.  Scales,  Schleicher, 
Sheakley,  Singleton,  Slemons,  W.  E.  Smith, 
Southard,  Sparks,  Sfiringer,  StaJitork,  Stenger, 
S  evenson,  W.  H.  Stone,  Swann,  J.  K.  Tarbox, 
Teese,  Terry,  Thomas,  C.  P.  T/iomptton,  Th^ock- 
mor'on.  Tucker,  Tarney,  J.  L.  Vance,  R.  B. 
Vance,  Waddell,  C.  C.  B.  Walker,  Walling, 
Walsh,  E.  Ward,  Warner,  E.  Wells,  Whithhous-e, 
Whitthorne,  Wigginton,  Wike,  J.  WilUamt,  J. 
N.  Willama,  B.  A'  Willis,  B.  Wilron,  F.  Wood, 
Ya'es,  Young — 146. 

Nays— Messrs.  Adams,  Gr.  A.  Bagley,  W.  H. 
Baker,  Ballou,  Banks,  Blair,  Bradley,  W.  R. 
Brown.  H,  C.  Burchard,  Buttz,  Cannon.  Chit- 
tenden, Conger,  Crapo,  Crounse,  Danford,  Dar- 
rall,  Davy,  Denison,  Dobbins.  Duniiell,  Eames, 
J.  L.  Evans,  Flye,  Fort,  Frye,  Garfield,  Haie, 
Haralson,  B.  W.  Harris,  Hathorn,  C.  Hays, 
Hendee,  Henderson.  Hoge,  Hoskins,  Hubbell, 
Hunter,  Hurlbut,  Hyman,  Joyce,  Kasson,  Lap- 
ham.  LawrenCB,  Leavenworth,  Lynch,  Magoon, 
MacDougall,  McCrary,  McDill,  Miller,  Monroe. 
Nash,  Norton,  Oliver,  Page,  W.  A.  Phillips, 
Pierce,  Plaisted,  Piatt,  Bainey,  M.  S.  Robinson, 
Rusk,  SampsoTi,  Seelye,  Sirnickson,  Strait, 
Thornburgh,  W.-Townsend.  Tufts,  VV«it.  A.  S. 
Wallace.  Or.  W.  Wells,  J.  D.  Whie,  Whiting, 
Willard,  A.  Williams.  C.  O.  Williams,  W.  B. 
Williams,  J.  Wilson,  Woodburn.  Woodworth— 
82. 

Not  Voting — Messrs.  Anderson,  J.  H.  Baker, 
Banning,  Bass,  Belford,  .S".  N.  Bell,  Blount,  Bur- 
leigh, Cabell,  A.  Co??ii)6e?^,  Cason,  Caswell,  Cafe, 
Chapln,  S.  S.  Cox,  Durand,  Eden,  Pgbert,  Felton, 
Foster,  Freeman,  Goodin,  Hancock,  G.  W.Heio- 
itt.  Hill,  Hoar,  Ilolman,  F.  Jones,  Kehr,  Kelley, 
KimhalJ,  King.  G.  M.  Landers,  Lewis,  Maish, 
H.  B.  Metcalfe,  Milliken,  Morgan,  O'Neill. 
P..c«er,  Piper,  Potter,  Pr*tt.  Reagon,  J.  Rob- 
bins,  S.  Ro?s,  Schumaker,  Smalls.  A.  H.  Smith, 
Stephens,  Stowell,  M.  I.  Townsend.  Van  Vorhes, 
Waldron.  G.  C.  Walker,  J.  W.  Wallace.  War- 
ren, Watterson,  Wheeler.^l.  .S'.  Williams,  Wil- 
shire,  A.  Wood — 62. 

The  res'>lution,  with  its  preamble,  was 
then   adopted   by  yeas  136,  nays   88 — not 
v'oting-66 — as  follow:^: 
Yeas  Mcas-rs,— Abbott,  Ainsworth,  Ashe,  At- 


32 


liuuh,,.  ,L  //.   n  (ileu. 


Banni 


Beehr, 


/iiiiM,  iutfihi/,  ,/.  ji.  IS  (/ic'u.jr.,  nnnniufi,  /seeoe 
JilarkhunK  lilnuil.  lilixi,  lilount,  lioorie,  lirud- 
fnd.nriiih..L  y.  Br-jinu  S.  J),  /{.rchard, 
<\,he//.  J.  Ji.  Cildwefi,  ir.  /'.  Vuhhoell,  Ciin; 
r>v1fl(li,  .A  li.  ('h)-hc',  J.  Ji.  dark,  jr., 
i^ll/iii'.r,  Carlirane,  (^/l/inx,  ConJc,  ('won,  Cul- 
bernoit,  J.  ,/.  Danl",  Dcliol',  DiltvcH,  Douglan, 
Jhtrhniii.  I-Jifix,  Faii/kncr,  J).  I).  FirH,  J.  J. 
Fitiff'!/,  Forney,  Frxnihlin,  Full  r,  (i'(i>i*e.  Gih- 
ton,  (ihrer,  (io  dr.  A.  JI.  JI  luiltov,  /{.  IlimU- 
tnn,  Ilnrdcuhen/h,  II  R,  Iltrrio,  ,/.  T.  Ila-rl", 
Jlartrido-,  JIartzell  Hatch- r,  JIr.,k/^,  A.  S. 
Hewitt,  Jlooker.  Jiopkinn,  Jlou^e,  A.  Ilump- 
hre>/»,  Il-iifoti,  Hard,  Jc  hx,  T.  L.  J^men,  Knot', 
Luiiinr,  F.  fjii-dcra,  (r.  M.  Liiiidrr/>,  Lew.  Lord, 
Lut  rtll,  Lynde,  Miivkey,  McFdrland,  Mc- 
Muhon,  Mcadf,  MUIh,  Moiwu,  Morr'-non,  Mutch- 
lex,  L  T.  Neal.  New,  O'Brien,  Odell,  Payne, 
Ph  lu",  J.  F.  Ph  Inx,  J'opol'ton,  Purman.  lie'i, 
,1.  JicUii,-!.  li.  Riilhi,  A.  V.  Bice.  Bi^dl^,  J. 
Bobbin",  W.  M.  lioblrn',  Jiohcrt-,  M.  Ruxa, 
S'ifler,  Sfal''»,  Schl':i(h^r,  Sheakhy,  Sl*V7ovit, 
W.  E.  Smith,  Southard,  Si  a  kt,  Stjriifjer,  Stan- 
ttm,  Steneer,  W.  H.  <SV  ■xe,  Swnnn,  J.  K.  Tarh'tx, 
Teen-,  Terrv.  Thomas,  C  P.  Thnmmm,  Throclc- 
motton.  Tucker,  Tiirn«i,  J.  L.  Varic,  R.  JL 
Varrce,  Wafde/l,  W-Uioff,  Wa/xh,  E.  Ward, 
Warner,  E.  Weill,  Whi'thor'-e,  W  ggi-tov, 
Wike.  J.  William",  ./.  N.  WitliamH.  B.  A.  Wil- 
li^, WihhircB.yfilhon.  F-i^"^— 136. 

Nays— Messrs.  Adams.  G.  A.  B^frley,  W.  H. 
,  Baker.  Ballon.  Banks,  Blair,  Bradley,  W.  R. 
Brown.  H.  C.  Burchard,  Buttz.  Cannon,  Caswell, 
Chittenden,  Conger.  Crou'ise.  Danturd.  Darrall, 
Denison,  Dobbins.  Dunnell,  E  «mes,  J.  L.  Evans, 
riye.  Fore.  Foster.  Freeman,  Fryc,  Garfield. 
Hale.  B.  W.  Harris.  Ilathorn,  JIapmond,  C.  ITh  j's. 
Hendee.  Henderson,  Hoge.  Hoskins,  Hubbell. 
Hunter,  Hurlbut,  Hyman,  Joyce,  Kasson.  Kel- 
ler, Lapharn,  Lawrence,  Leavenworth,  Magoor, 
MacD  ugall,  McCrary,  McDill, Miller,  Monroe. 
Hash,  Norton.  Oliver,  O'Neill,  Page.  W.  A. 
Phillips.  Piaisted,  PUtt,  Kainey,  M.  S.  Robin- 
son, S.  Ross,  Rusk,  fe-ampson,  Seelye,  Sinnick- 
son.  A.  H.  Smith,  Siowell,  Strait,  Thor-^burgh, 
M.  I.  TownsenH.  W.  Townseml,  Tufts,  Wait,  A. 
S.  Wallace,  J.  W.  Wallace,  G.  W.  Wells,  J.  D. 
White,  Whiting.  Willard.  A.  Willi'-ims.  C.  G. 
Williams.  J.  Wilson,  A.  Wood,  Woodburn. 
Wood  worth— 88. 

Not  Voting- Messrs.  Anderson,  ,T.  H.  Baker, 
Biss,  Belford,A'.  ]V.  Bell,  Buckner,  Burleigh,  A. 
Campbell,  Candler,  Casoii.  0<ite,  Chapin,  S.  S. 
Cox,  Orapo.  Cutler,  Davy,  JJurand,  Eden,  Egbert, 
FeUon,  Goodin,  Gunter,  Hancock,  Haralson, 
Harrison,  G.  W.  Uexoift,  Hill,  Hoar,  Holman,  F. 
Jones,  Kehr.  Kimball.  King.  Jjane,  Le  Moyne, 
Leicis,  Lynch,  Maish,  H.  Ji.  Metcalfe,  Milliken, 
Morgan,  Packer,  Pierce,  JHper,  Putter.  Poioell, 
Pratt,  Beagan,  Savage,  Sehnmaker,  Sin<jleton, 
Smalls.  Stephens.  Sievhenson,  Van  Vorhes.  Wai- 
dron,  C.  C.  B.  Walker.  G.  C.  Walker,  Warren. 
Watterson,  Wheeler,  Whitehouse,  A. S.  Williams, 
W.  B.  Williams,  /'.  Wood,  Young— Qi^. 

Democratic  Coiigres.sional  Caucus — Ad- 
dress and  Pi-ole.st  Ajjainst  the  Election — 
Declaration  of  the  tlie  Election  of  Hayes. 

On  Saturday  evening,.  March  3,  1877, 
4he  Democratic  mpmbers  of  the  House, 
in  caucus,  adopted  a  long  address  "to 
the  American  people"  whicii  closes  thus: 

In  the  exciting  days  just  prist  the  forbearance 
of  the  people  has  maintained  the  peace.  Let 
it  not  however,  from  tnis  be  understood  that 
the  fraud  to  be  consummated  March  4  will  be 
silently  acquiesced  in  by  the  country.  L-^t  no 
hour  pass  in  which  the  usurpation  is  forgotten. 
Let  agitation  be  increasing  that  at  every  op- 
portunity the  people  may  express  their  abhor- 
€nce  of  the  outrage.  Let  want  of  eonfidenee 
be  voted  at  every  election  in  Mr.  Hayes  and 
hi   administration.    *    *    *    *    Let  tha  Demo- 


cratic party  at  once  organize  for  the  ewcin- 
teats  to  secure  overwhelming  victories,  that 
conspirators  may  never  again  attempt  the  ex- 
periment wbicb  novv  humiliates  the  Republic 
and  has  installed  ia  its  highest  office  a  usurper. 

Mr.  Tilden  Officially  Notified  of  his  Elec- 
tion. 

[Special  dispatch  to  the  World,] 

^  W.vsHiXGTOX,  March  3  — Th'^  following  ! 
dispatch,  signed  by  the  Democrats  of  the 
House,  wa3  sent  to  Mr.  Tilden  this  even- 
ing: 

Mr.  Koott's  resolution  declaring  that  Samuel 
J.  Tilden  ard  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  had  re- 
ceived the  votes  of  a  m8.ioritv  of  all  the  electors 
legally  appointed,  and  were  thereby  duly 
elected  President  and  Vice  President  for  the 
term  of  four  years,  commencing  March  4.  1877, 
has  passed  the  House— yeas.  136;  nays.  88 

David  Dudley  Field.  R.  F.  Mills,  E.  A.  Pop- 
pleti.n,  J.  M.  Beebe.  John  L.  Vance.  S.  S.  Cox, 
W.  M.  Springer.  A.  T.  Walling.  J.  R.  Tucker. 
J.  Proctor  Knott,  E.  R.  Meade,  J.  J.  Abbott.  J. 
S.  C  Blackburn,  A.  V.  Rice.  A.  M.  Waddell, 
Franklin  Landers.  Lafayette  Lane.  M.  I  South- 
ard. F.  H.  Hurd,  B.  G.  Caulfield,  H.  D.  Money, 
A  H.  Hamilton.  W.  A.  J.  Sp.irks.  A.  M.  Bliss, 
C.  C.  B.  Walker.  W.  W.  F.  Slemons,  W.  S. 
Haymond,  and  others. 

Did  Tilden  Take  the  Oatli?— Contemplated 
Quo  Warranto   Proceedings. 

Washington.  MHrch  4.—*  *  *  The  hotels 
have  been  full  of  rumors,  nnd  extras  have  been 
issued  that  Tilden  took  the  oath  in  New  York  on 
hearing  of  the  Hou«e  resolution,  and  in  order  to 
strengthen  his  claims  through  tbe  contemplated 
quo  ijcarranto  procec:tinas. 

The  above  dispatch  is  from  the  New 
York  Worlds  March  5,  1877.  That  paper 
adds,  editorially,  thus: 

Some  excitement  was  caused  yesterday  in  this 
city  by  the  receipt  of  telegrams  from  Washing- 
ton asking  for  tiiet'uth  of  the  rumor  that  Gov- 
ernor Tilden,  on  Saturday  night  last,  had  taken 
the  oath  of  office  as  President  ot  the  United 
States.  The  rutior  was  so  preposterous  as 
hardly  to  require  the  denial  which  is  promptly 
received. 

This  is  about  all  the  light  that  has  ever 
been  thrown  upon  the  question  whether 
Tilden  took  the  oath  or  not.  That  the 
**rumor"  received  a  "denial"  mayor  may 
not  have  been  true;  but  was  that  "denial" 
true,  and  did  Tilden  himself  make  it?  No 
affirmative  evidence  has  been  given  on 
these  two  points. 

Kevolutionary  Tallc  by  Tilden' s  Mouthpiece 
After  Inauguration. 

The  New  York  World,  March  6,  1877, 
said  : 

In  a  free  country  a  maj  trity  (meaning  the 
Dttmocrat^)  can  only  be  deprived  of  its  rights  by 
fraud;  and  if  a  majority,  deprived  of  its  rights 
by  fraud  to-day  cannotwe  cover  them  by  honest 
and  determined  action  to-morrow,  it  is  not  lit  to 
be  a  majority  at  all. 

AbraniS.  Hewitt  Forced  to  Resign  from  the 
National  Democratic  Committee  by  Dem- 
ocratic Pressure — He  Makes  a  Very  Pe- 
culiar Sort  of  an  Apology. 

On  the  3d  March,  1877,  Abram  S. 
Hewitt   resigned  the  chairmanship  of  the. 


33 


National  Democratic  Committee,  forced 
to  that  step  by  Democratic  anger  at  his 
course  touching  the  Electoral  Commission 
bill.     In  his  letter  of  resignation  he  says : 

An  absurd  statement  has  been  widely  circu- 
lated that  I  had  declared  that  "Iprefered  the 
inauguration  of  Hayes  to  the  shedding  ot  a 
single  drop  of  blood  "  *  *  *  The  only  re- 
mark which  I  ever  made  on  this  subject  was  in 
a  private  conversation,  not  intended  to  be  re- 
peated, and  was  to  the  effect  that  '  I  would 
prefer  four  years  of  Hayes'  administration  to 
four  years  of  civil  war;"  and  upon  this  decla- 
ration I  am  willing  to  stand,  because  four  years 
of  civil  war  would,  in  my  opinion,  utterly  de- 
stroy constitutional  government  for  this  gene- 
ration at  Irtast, 

Judge  Blaclc  Propliesies  Revolution. 

In  Judge  Jeremiah  M.  Black's  phiHipic 
before  the  Electoral  Commis'^ion,  when 
he  found  that  Tilden  had  lost  all  chance 
of  being  "counted  in,"  occurs  the  tbliow- 
ing  prophecy  of"  coming  revoiutiou  : 

*  *  *  But.  neverthel'^ss,  wait  a  little  wliile. 
*  *  *  This  mighty  and  puissant  nation  will 
yet  raise  hersfilf  up  like  a  strong  mAu  iifter 
sleep  and  shake  her  inviacible  locks  in  >«.  fasnion 
you  little  dream  of  now.  VVaic,  retribution 
will  come  in  due  time.  Justice  travels  with 
a  leaden  heel,  but  strikes  with  an  iron  hand. 
Ond's  mill  grinds  slow  but  dreadfully  fine. 
Wait  till  the  fl  lod-gate  is  lifted  and  a  full  head 
of  water  comes  rushing  on.  Wait,  and  i/ou  will 
■see  Jiae grinding  then. 

And  this  was  repiblir^.hed  approvingly 
by  the  Democratic  World,  Mirc^-i  3,  1877. 

PART  VI. 

Tlic  JWanltattaii  €lHb  Reception 
i  —Orders  wliicli  the  Demo- 
^  cratic  House  is  now  Enforcing 
Treasonable  Utterances  of  tlic 
Pr ©ten  tier  T^ildiCR  — I>ieiit"€5'OT. 
©orslieimer,  David  Dudley 
Field,  and  Others— A  diatlier- 
mg  of  1,000  Disting-nislied 
Democrats  from  Twelve  States 
Applauds  tlie  Hevolutiouary 
^k^ntimcnt  that  **  It  Might  be 
within  the  Scope  of  a  {States- 
manlike Policy  Resolutely 
pursued  to  worlt  out  a  Com- 
plete Remedy  for  this  (Presi- 
dential) IVrong,  E%en  Before 
the  next  Election. 

The  following,  condtjn«^ed  from  th=}  New 
York  Tribune,  June  13,  1878,  so  clearly 
betrays  the  treasonable  purposes  of  the 
movement  inaugurated  by  the  Democratic 
House  in  the  appointment  of  the  one- 
sided Tiiden  Committee  now  "investigat- 
ing" alleged  frauds  of  Republicans  in  the 
electoral  count  so  as  to  lay  a  basis  for 
future  revolutionary  action,  that  *'he  who 
rUns  may  read"  th':;  portents: 

2 


One  Taonsand  BepresentatH'"*  I>einocvats 
Assemblecl  to  Endorse  Rev^olutioii  — 
Twelve  States  Represented. 

The  reception  of  the  Manhattan  Club  to 
ex-Governors  Tilden  and  Hendricks,  Gov- 
ernor Robinson,  and  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Dorsheiraer  brought  together  a  great 
number  of  well-known  Democrats,  many 
States  being  represented.  -it  *  *  * 
Fifteen  hund:ed  invitations  were  issued, 
and  between  800  and  1,000  guests  were 
present,  representing  the  Democrats  of 
many  States  of  the  Union.  -5^  *  *  * 
Prominent  among  whom  were :  New  York 
— Secretary  of  State  John  Bigelow,  At- 
torney-General Fairchild,  Mayor  Smith 
Ely,  Samuel  S.  Cox,  Abram  S.  Htiwitt, 
Colonel  Pelton,  ex-Mayor  Wickham,  John 
v.  Agnew,  A.  J.  Vanderpoel,  ex-Gov- 
eriior  John  T.  Hoffman,  Senator  Kernan, 
John  J.  Armstrong,  Lawrence  Turnure, 
William  C.  DewiU,  Royal  Phelps,  Hugh 
J.  Jewett,  Parke  Godwin,  Benjamin 
Wood,,  Chief  Justice  Charles  P.  Daly, 
Judge  George  C.  Barrett,  General  Roger 
A.  Pryor,  Henry  L.  Clinton,  Augustus 
.Schell,  Peter  B.  Oiney,  James  W.  Covert, 
Judge  Van  Hoeseil,  Frederick  R.  Cou- 
dert,  Corporation  Counsel  William  C. 
Whitney,  ex-Judge  Henry  Hilton,  District 
Attorney  Britton,  Thomas  Kinsella,  W. 
A.  Fowler,  A.  M.  Biiss,  Calvin  Frost, 
Erastus  Brooks,  George  M.  Beebe, 
Judge  Westbrook,  Colonel  A.  C.  Davis, 
Judge  Donahue,  Judge  Lawrence,  George 
Ticknor  Curtis,  Benjamin  A.  Willis, 
General  Fitz  John  Porter,  Judge 
Lsirremore,  E.  Winslow  Paige,  Colonel 
Wingate,  John  McKeon,  Douglass  Taylor, 
Algernon  S.  Sullivan,  David  Dudley 
Field,  Police  Commissioner  Smith,  Com- 
missioner Campbell,  Charles  G.  Cornell, 
Waldo  Hutchings,  General  McMahon, 
Smith  M.  Weed,  Scott  Lord,  General  Spi- 
nola,  VV.  S    Andrews,  Frank  Leslie. 

Massachusetts. — Josiah  G.  Abbott, 
Charles  P.  Thompson,  John  K.  Tarbox. 

Connecticut — Senator  W.  H.  B.irnum, 
ex  Governor  Ingersoll. 

New  Jersey. — Governor  Joseph  D. 
B-idle,  Senator  John  R.  McPherson, 
Speaker  R.  F.  Rabe,  ex-Mayor  Trapha- 
gen,  Judge  Tesse,  ex-Governor  Price,  ex- 
Covernor  Joel  Parker,  Miles  Ross,  Sen- 
ator Theodore  F.  Randolph,  ex-Ju-^ge 
Ashbel  Green,  A.  A.  Hardenburgh, 
Orestes  Cleveland. 

Pennsylvania. — Hiester  Clymer,  Taos, 
G.  Pearce,  Samuel  A.  Thompson,  Robert 
E.  Randall  General  W.  H.  H.  Davis,  Dr. 
Lamodin,  Philadelphia  Times 

Maryland.— Senator  W.  P.  Whyte. 

Washington. — Richard  Merrick. 

Virginia. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Hoge,  of  Rich- 
mond. 


34 


Ohio.— General  George  W.  McCook. 
Georgia. — General  Pierce  M.  B.  Young. 
Indiana. — Senator  McDonald. 
Missouri. — Congressman   Philips,  Con- 
gressman Wells. 

Wisconsin. — J.  R.  Barrett. 

The  Botliscliiltls  American  Bepresent4i- 
tive  Presides— Others  of  Wealth  and 
Weight  Officiating— The  Club's  "Wel- 
come" to  the  "de  jure"  President  and 
Vice  President, 

The  reception  committee  which  had 
charge  of  the  arrangements  was  composed 
of  the  following  gentlemen:  August  Bel- 
mont, president;  Aaron  J.  Vanderpoel, 
vice  president;  John  T.  Agnew,  John  Mc- 
Keon,  John  T.  HoflFman,  Douglass  Taylor, 
John  G.  Davis,  J.  Watts  Bangs,  Edward 
L.  Gaul,  Henry  W.  Allen,  F.  R.  Coudert, 
Augustus  Schell,  Samuel  S.  Cox,  Richard 
Lathers,  James  C.  Spencer,  Peter  B.  01- 
ney,  Robert  B.  Roosevelt. 

The  speakers  were  introduced  by  A.  J. 
Vanderpoel,  who  said  that  it  was  his 
agreeable  duty  to  tender,  on  behalf  of  the 
Manhattan  Club,  which  represented  not 
only  the  Democracy  of  the  Empire  City, 
but  of  the  Empire  State  as  well,  a  wel- 
come to  "those  candidates  who  received  a 
majority  of  the  constitutional  and  elec- 
toral votes  for  the  offices  of  President  and 
Vice  President,  and  to  those  who  are  not 
only  de  jure  but  de  facto  the  executive 
officers  of  our  great  State." 

The  Pretender  Tilden's  Speech— A  Porten- 
tous Transaction — "  Counted  Out"  and 
"  Counted  In"— Tlie  W^rong  Mv^st  Be  Be- 
dressed  and  Punished. 

*  *  *  The  occasion  and  the  appa- 
rent general  expectation  seem  to  require 
that  I  should  say  a  word  in  respect  to 
public  affairs,  and  especially  that  I  should 
allude  to  the  transaction  which,  in  my 
judgment,  is  the  most  portentous  event  in 
our  political  history. 

Everybody  knows  that  afier  the  recent 
election  the  men  who  were  elected  by  the 
people  President  and  Vice  President  of 
the  United  States  were  "counted  out," 
and  the  men  who  were  not  elected  were 
"counted  in"  and  seated.  [Cries  of 
"Hear!  Hear!"]  I  disclaim  any  thought 
of  the  personal  wrong  involved  in  this 
transaction.  Not  one  of  the  four  and  a 
quarter  millions  of  American  citizens  who 
gave  us  their  votes  but  what  experiences 
a  wrong  as  great  and  as  deep  as  I ;  not 
one  of  that  minority  who  did  not  give  us 
their  votes  but  what  in  the  resulting  con- 
sequences of  this  act  will  share  equally  in 
the  mischief  if  it  is  not  redressed  and  pun- 
ished.    [Great  applause.] 


He  Is  Proud  of  the  Old  "Peaceful"  Changes 
In  the  Governing  Power— He  Is  the  First 
in  American  History  to  "Pretend"  There 
Was  Fraud— "ir'  Hayes  Is  "  Successful" 
in  Betaining  the  Presidency,  Then  Wliat? 

Evils  in  government  grow  by  success 
and  by  impunity.  They  do  not  restrain 
themselves  voluntarily.  They  can  never 
be  limited  except  by  external  forces.  It 
had  been  our  pride  and  our  congratulation 
that  in  this  country  we  had  established  a 
system  of  peaceful  change  in  the  govern- 
ing power.  In  other  countries  in  the  Old 
World  changes  in  the  administration — in 
a  succession  of  government — have  gener- 
ally been  worked  out  by  frauds  or  by  force. 
We  felicitate  ourselves  that  here,  through 
the  skill  and  patriotism  and  philanthropy 
of  our  forefathers,  we  had  established  a  sys- 
tem of  peaceful  change  through  the  agency 
of  the  ballot-box.  And  this  is  the  first  time 
in  American  history  that  the  right  of  the 
people  has  been  impeached.  It  is  the 
first  time  in  American  history  that  any- 
body has  pretended  that  the  Government 
of  this  great  country  was  handed  over  to 
any  set  of  men  through  fraud.  [Ap- 
plause.] It  is  an  event  novel,  portentous. 
The  example,  if  successful,  will  find  imi- 
tators . 

"IT'  Hayes  and  Wheeler  "can  inaiutam 
possession"— The  question  of  questions- 
No  politics  until  the  People  "regain  their 
rights  and  rule"— which  means  by  put- 
ting Hayes  out  and  Tilden  in. 

The  temptation  is  always  present,  and 
if  a  set  of  men,  being  in  possession  of  the 
Government,  can  maintain  that  possession 
against  the  elective  power  of  the  people, 
and  after  they  are  condemned  at  the  elec- 
tion, why  should  not  such  an  event  be 
imitated  by  their  successors?  Devices 
will  always  be  found  to  give  the  color  of 
law,  and  false  pretenses  on  which  to  found 
a  fraudulent  judgment  will  not  be  want- 
ing. The  question  for  the  American  peo- 
ple now  is  whether  or  not  the  elective 
system  of  our  forefathers,  as  it  was  estab- 
lished in  this  country  and  has  been  re- 
spected and  venerated  for  seventy-five 
years,  shall  be  maintained,  or  whether  we 
shall  adopt  the  bad  practices  of  the  worst 
governments  in  the  worst  ages.  [Ap- 
plause.] This  is  the  question  of  ques- 
tions. Until  it  shall  be  settled  no  inferior 
administrative  questions  will  have  any 
significance  in  the  politics  of  this  country. 
There  will  be  no  politics  in  this  country 
but  the  question,  "Shall  the  people  regain 
their  rights  and  rule  in  this  Republic?" 
[Some  one  in  the  room  here  proposed 
three   cheers  "for  the   President-elect," 


35 


-but  as  it  seemed  an  inopportune  moment 
no  response  was  made.] 

•♦•If"  Hayes  accession  to  the  Presidency 
"is  once  condoned,"  what  tlien  will 
happen— But  it  won't  be— "The  Institu- 
tions of  the  Fathers,"  to  wit :  Tilden  and 
Hendricks  "Are  not  to  Expire  in  Shame" 
—"The  Sovereignty"  meaning  the  Presi- 
dency "  Shall  be  rescued  and  re-estab- 
1  shed." 

If  one  instance  of  the  successful  assump- 
tion of  the  Government  in  this  mode  can  he 
•established,  it  will  find  plenty  of  imitators, 
if  it  is  condoned'hy  the  people— aye,  if  it 
is  once  condoned.  If  my  voice  could  reach 
throughout  our  country  and  be  heard  in 
its  remotest  hamlet,  I  would  say,  "  Be  of 
good  cheer.  The  Republic  will  live.  The 
institutions  of  our  fathers  are  not  to  ex- 
pire in  shame.  The  sovereignty  of  the 
people  shall  be  rescued  from  this  peril  and 
re-established.^^     [Applause.] 

The  people  must  condemn  Hayes'  "Wrong" 
not  only  '^with  a  voice,"  (presumably  at 
the  polls,)  "but  in  a  manner,"  (presuma- 
bly by  violence)  "to  prevent  future 
Avrongs  "—They  must  deny,  they  must  re- 
fuse success  and  prosperous  impunity 
to  it. 

The  question  involves  the  elective  sys- 
tem ;  it  involves  the  whole  structure  of 
f  free  government,  and  the  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple through  it  again  will  be  vindicated,  re- 
asserted, and  forever  established.  The 
people  must  condemn  the  great  and  trans- 
cendant  wrong  that  has  been  committed. 
They  must  condemn  it  with  a  voice  and  in 
^  manner  that  shall  prevent  its  imitation 
hereafter.  They  must  strip  from  this  ex- 
ample everything  in  it  that  attracts  imita- 
tion. They  must  deny,  they  must  refuse 
success  and  prosperous  impunity  to  fraud. 
[Applause.] 

Hayes  and  WTieeler  cannot  be  trusted  to 
give  "  redress  "—But  wait  until  Hayes 
and  Wheeler  are  put  out  and  Tilden  and 
Hendricks  shall  "  attain  power,"  and 
then  we  will  "  fix  "  things  so  that  to  elect 
and  seat  another  Kepublican  President 
shall  be  "impossible." 


President  Hayes  is  on  the  eve  of  his  "  fall" 
—He  may  seem  invincible— Yet  "in  a 
year  or  two  "  he  will  be  either  in  the  Pen- 
itentiary or  in  exile !  "—Hayes  illustrated 
by  Tweed. 

Successful  wrong  is  never  so  apparently 
triumphant  as  when  it  is  on  the  eve  of  its 
fall.  Seven  years  ago  a  corrupt  dynasty 
had  established  its  ascendency  over  the 
millions  of  people  who  live  in  New  York. 
It  had  obtained  all  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment and  of  administration.  It  conquered 
or  it  bribed,  or  it  persuaded,  and  won  the 
almost  universal  acquiescence  of  our  peo- 
ple. It  even  aspired  to  social  recognition. 
It  seemed  to  be  invincibie.  And  yet  a  year 
or  two  later  the  members  of  it  were  either 
in  the  penitentiary  or  in  exile.  History  is 
full  of  such  examples.  We  must  trust  the 
people  ;  we  must  believe  in  the  right ;  we 
must  believe  in  the  future  of  our  country. 
A  great  and  noble  nation  will  never  separ- 
ate its  political  from  its  moral  life.  [Im- 
mense applause  and  cheers.] 

Governor    Robinson,  of    New  York,    De- 
nounces Hayes'  "  Crime." 

Governor  Robinson,  who  was  warmly 
applauded,  said  he  "  was  glad  to  be  pres- 
ent to  do  honor  to  the  distinguished  gen- 
tlemen who  were  the  Democratic  stand- 
ard-beaters in  the  late  national  contest. 
From  the  time  a  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
United  States  was  inaugurated  who  had 
never  been  elected  he  had  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity, he  said,  to  assert  that  the  will  of 
the  people  had  been  disregarded,  and 
that  unless  such  acts  were  regarded  as 
crimes  there  was  no  hope  of  the  United 
States  surviving  as  a  nation." 

Liieutenant- Governor  Dorsheimer  on  the 
"Great  Injustice" — The  Wronged  Must 
"Seek  Redress,"  Must  "Punish"  the 
"Wrong-Doer,"  Which  Must  Mean 
Hayes— "We  will"  Make  the  Wrong 
"L.ie  Heavy"  Upon  the  Repviblicans ; 
Will  "Bear  Witness"  Against  it,  and 
"  Condemn  "  it— "But  I  Hope  we  will  not 
Content  Ourselves  with  That! 

Lieutenant-Governor  Dorsheimer  claim- 
ed that  a  great  injustice  had  been  done  to 
the  Democratic  party  in  the  inauguration 
of  the  Republican  candidate.  He  con- 
cluded as  follows:  It  devolves  upon  you, 
for  it  is  you  who  have  been  wronged,  and 
in  all  affairs  it  is  for  the  party  wronged  to 
seek  redress,  to  find  out  and  punish  the 
wrong-doer.  Now,  what  shall  we  do? 
We  will,  in  the  firbt  place,  improve  every 
occasion,  in  public  and  private,  to  con- 
demn it.  We  will  bear  witness  against 
it.  We  will  make  a  sense  of  this  wrong 
to  lie  heavy  upon  every  conscientious  Re- 


36 


publican  in  the  country.     But  I  hope  toe 
will  not  content  ourselves  with  that. 

U«  Foreshadows  the  Actioa  of  the  Demo- 
cratio  Uou8«— Alleged  Powers  of  the 
House— A  "Policy"  to  be  «B>esolately 
pursued  "  to  work  out  a  "  Couiplete  Rem- 
edy for  this  Wrong,  Even  before  the 
Next  Election  r— The  1,000  Distinguished 
I>emocrats  Applaud  the  Treason ! 

A  distinguished  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  whom  I  saw  a  few 
moments  ago,  told  me  last  evening  that 
the  House  had  the  power  to  inquire  and 
to  make  plain,  and  I  may  say  to  you 
further  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
is  by  the  Constitution  endowed  with  those 
great  powers  which  in  every  generation 
the  British  House  of  Commons  has  used 
boldly  and  with  perfect  freedom  to  work 
out  the  liberties  of  the  English  people. 
[Applause.]  So  I  should  hope  that  it 
might  be  within  the  scope  of  a  stateman- 
like  policy  resolutely  pursued  to  work  out 
a  complete  remedy  for  this  wrong,  even 
before  the  next  election.     [Applause.] 

David  Dudley  Field's  treason  —  Three 
months  after  Vice  President  Wheeler  took 
the  oath  of  office  Field  terms  Hendricks, 
of  Indiana,  "our  Vice  President!" 

David  Dudley  Field,  on  being  called 
for,  said:  '*  It  is  quite  impossible  for  me 
to  think  of  addressing  you  in  the  presence 
of  so  many  gentlemen  from  other  parts  of 
the  country,  much  worthier  and  better 
able  than  I,  and,  therefore,  I  must  beg 
you  to  excuse  me.  I  can  point  to  dozens 
of  gentlemen  from  other  States,  and  they 
are  the  ones  whom  you  wish  to  hear,  and 
not  one  of  yourselves  here.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  give  you  advice  nor  encouragement, 
but  for  others.  I  will  name  some  of  them. 
We  have  got  here  Judge  Abbott,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, one  of  the  noblest  men  that 
ever  voted  a  ballot  for  freedom,  and  for 
days  and  weeks  he  and  I  stood  shoulder 
to  shoulder  fighting  your  battle  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  I  ask  you  to 
hear  him.  Then  there  is  another  distin- 
guished gentleman  from  the  same  State 
with  our  Vice  President — Mr.  McDon- 
ald— who  also  bore  the  standard  bravely 
in  the  struggle.     He  is  here." 

Senator  McDonald  acknowledged  the 
courtesy,  but  excused  himself  from  a 
speech. 

The    Serenade— Handshaking    with   "our 
President  and  Vice  President  elect." 

Mr.  Tilden  and  ex- Governor  Hendricks 
held  an  informal  levee,  and  such  persons 
as  had  never  enjoyed  the  privilege  before 
were  permitted  to   shake  the   hands  of 


"our  Presidentand  Vice  President-elect,' 
as  they  were  invariably  introduced.  After 
the  collation,  which  was  partaken  of  with- 
out speech-making,  the  Young  Men's 
Democratic  Club,  accompanied  by  Graf- 
fulla's  band,  reached  the  club-house  and 
serenaded  the  distinguished  guests. 

TUden  thanks  the  Democracy  for  "  Devo- 
tion "  to  him— •<  The  future  Is  ours,"  he 
says,  "and  we  shall  prevail"— Firm- 
ness and  "courage"  needed— His  coming 
"  triumph." 

Mr.  Tilden  spoke  from  the  front  steps 
and  said:  "  I  am  unfortunate  enough  to  be 
suffering  from  a  temporary  cold,  and  have 
been  told  that  I  must  not  show  myself  out 
here  ;  but  I  feel  there  cannot  be  any  harm 
in  speaking  on  such  an  occasion  as  this. 
I  wish  to  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity 
to  thank  the  Democracy  of  New  York  for 
their  devotion  in  the  contest  of  1876.  I 
cannot  say  more  than  :  Be  of  good  cheer; 
the  future  is  ours  and  we  shall  prevail.. 
Be  constant,  be  firm,  be  courageous. 
Right,  truth,  and  justice  shall  at  last  tri-  \ 
umph.  Thanking  you  again  for  your  i 
zeal,  courage,  and  indomitable  energy,  I  j 
bid  you  good  night." 

PART  VII. 

Maryland  makes  the  First  SItir 
in  the  Plot— The  Mongomery 
Blair  Quo  Warranto  move* 
ment. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  session  of  the- 
Maryland  Legislature,  Montgomery  Blair, 
by  the  plentiful  use  of  champagne  and 
terrapin  "put  through"  the  following 
resolution,  which  was  presented  to  the 
National  House  of  Representatives,  April 
22,  1878: 

Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Mary- 
land, That  the  Attorney  General  of  the  State 
be,  and  he  is  hereby,  instructed,  in  case  Con- 
gress shall  provide  for  expediting  the  action,  ta 
exhibit  a  bill  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  on  behalf  of  the  Stale  of  Mary- 
land, with  proper  parties  thereto,  setting  forth 
the  fact  that  due  effect  has  not  been  given  to 
the  electoral  vote  cast  by  this  State  on  the  6th 
day  of  December.  1876,  by  reason  of  fraudulent 
returns  made  from  other  States  and  allowed  to 
be  counted  provisionally  by  the  electoral  com- 
mission, and  subject  to  judicial  revision,  and 
praying  said  court  to  make  the  revision  con- 
templated by  the  act  establishing  said  commis- 
sion ,*  and  upon  such  revision  to  declare  the  re- 
turns from  the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Floridas, 
which  were  counted  for  Rutherford  B,  HayeS; 
and  William  A.  Wheeler,  fraudulent  and  void, 
and  that  the  legal  electoral  votes  of  said  States  j 
were  cast  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  President, 
and  Thomas  A.  Henaricks  as  Vice  President,, 
and  that  by  virtue  thereof  and  of  184  votes  casti 
by  other  States,  of  which  8  were  cast  by  tho| 
State  of  Maryland,  the  said  Tilden  and  Hen-  i 
dricks  were  duly  elected,  and  praying  saidj 
court  to  decree  accordingly. 


37 


-;^;,  ;PAET  YIII. 

The  Fottcr  FcsoIwtioiifciiiicTccll 
upon  the  Mairyland  resolution 
Its  sweeping  powers  wilhin 
cerlain  lines— A  one-sided  In- 
vestigation proposed— -High- 
banded  proceedings  in  the 
House— The  Revolutionary  in- 
tent exposed— Randall's  ruling 
—The  votes  in  full. 

May  13,  1&78,  Mr.  C.  K.  Potter,  Dem- 
ccrat,  of  New  York,  offered  the  following 
resolution.    The  preamble  is  here  omitted: 

lie  it  resolved.  That  a  select  committee,  con- 
sisting of  eleven  members  of  this  House,  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Speaker  to  inquire  into  the  afore- 
gsid  allegation  as  to  the  conduct  of  the  persons 
in  cffice  aforesaid  in  respect  of  the  said  election, 
and  into  the  alleged  false  and  fraudulent  can- 
vass atd  return  of  votes  by  State,  county, 
parish  and  precinct  cfficersin  the  said  States  of 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  into  all  the  facts 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  said  committee, 
are  connected  with  or  pertinent  thereto  ;  and 
that  the  said  committee,  for  tha  purpose  of  ex- 
ecuting this  resolution,  shall  have  power  to 
send  for  persons  and  papers,  to  administer 
oaths,  and  to  take  testimony,  and  in  their  dis- 
cretion to  detail  sub-committees,  with  like 
full  authority  of  said  committee  in  every  par- 
tjenlar,  and  with  power  to  sit  in  Florida  and 
LouisiAna.  which  gub-committcesshall  be  com- 
mittees of  this  House;  and  the  chairman  thereof 
shall  be  authorized  to  administer  o a tis ;  that 
the  said  c(  mmittee  and  sub-committees  may 
employ  stenographers,  clerks  and  messengers, 
and  be  attended  each  by  a  deputy  sergeant-at- 
aims,  aid  may  sit  during  the  sessions  of  this 
House  ana  during;  the  vacation;  and  that  said 
committee  do  forthwith  proceed  in  this  inquiry 
and  have  leave  to  report  at  any  time. 

The  point  of  order  whicli  was  to  develop 
tlie  revolutionary  intent  odf  this  Potter- 
Tiltlen  committee  business. 

Mr.  Ccnger(EepublicaB)  made  the  point 
of  order  that  the  resolution  is  not  a  question 
of  privilege,  and  was  ably  supported  by 
Messrs.  Hale  and  Garfield,  Republicans, 
and  Mills,  Democrat,  all  of  whom  pointed 
out  clearly  that  unless  it  was  intended  to 
impeach  or  take  some  other  positive  action 
against  President  Hayes  as  a  result  of  the 
investigation,  it  could  not  be  termed  a 
question  of  privilege. 

Mr.  Hale  puts  it  squarely  to  the  Demo- 
cratic {speaker  as  to  the  outcome  of  this 
jwoceeding;. 

Said  Mr.  Hale:  *  *  *  I  await  with  so- 
licitude the  ruling  of  the  Speaker.  If  this 
resolution,  however  deprecatory  it  may  be 
in  language,  means  that  this  House  is  to  enter 
upon,  as  it  would  in  the  election  of  a  Speaker, 
or  in  the  seating  of  a  member,  the  practical 
question  affecting  the  election  of  a  President, 
thereby  intending  to  subvert  accepted  results, 
then  there  may  be  some  claim  that  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  privilege.  But  as  an  expression  of  opin- 
ion, as  for  instance  if  I  should  rise  and  offer  a  res- 
olution that  the  gentleman  from  New  York  or 


his  title  to  hi?  seat  here  was  affected  by  rnmorF, 
and  as  an  expression  of  opinion  itwas  desirable 
to  settle  history  on  that,  the  Chair  would  un- 
doubtedly at  once  rule  it  was  not  a  question  o  f 
privilege,  because  no  action  was  'ntendcd.  I. 
put  it  squarely  to  the  Speaker,  and  upon  that, 
as  I  have  said,  shall  await  with  solicitude  his 
ruljng.whether  under  the  provisions  of  the  rule, 
this  is  a  resolution  calling  for  action  on  the? 
election  of  President,  which  action  must  be  1x6 
the  direction  of  attacking  the  legality  of  the 
title  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the 
subversion,  it  maj  be,  of  thattitleand  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  incumbent.  All  that  is  involved 
if  this  question  belongs  here. 

I^eave  off  your  clamnahle  faces  and  begin — 
Garfield's  statement  of  the  point. 

Mr.  Garfield  said:  The  right  of  petitioii. 
was  discussed  on  the  presentation  of  the- 
Maryland  resolutions.  Everybody  admitted, 
the  unquestioned  right  of  petition ;  but  the 
right  of  action  here  on  this  floor  is  a  differ- 
ent thing.  The  question  which  rises  to  the. 
dignity  of  a  privileged  question  depends  upon 
the  right  of  action  which  some  one  can  demand 
of  the  House.  A  member  here  can  deuaaiLd! 
action  in  regard  to  his  right  to  his  seat. 

Anything  that  leads  to  an  action  lelatitg  t& 
these  high  questions  of  privilege  of  course  can 
be  called  a  privileged  question.  But  this  me- 
morial received  here  by  the  courtesy  of  the 
rules  of  the  House,  and  notasamatter  of  rights 
except  as  a  petition,  cannot  now  by  any  form 
of  logic  be  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  question  of" 
privilege. 

Now,  I  say  another  thing.  This  would  be,  a 
question  of  privilege  without  any  doubt,  pro- 
vided the  resolution  alleges  a  purpose  to  insti- 
tute proceedings  in  impeachment.  If  he  says 
this  is  a  proceeding  intended  to  pave  the  way 
for  an  impeachment,  doubtless  it  may  be  made 
a  question  of  privilege. 

If  he  says  that  it  is  a  proposition  by  this  House- 
to  raise  and  determine  the  question  of  the  title 
of  the  present  Chief  Magistrate  to  the  cffiee; 
which  he  holds,  then  I  answer  him  that  that, 
question  has  been  determined  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  and  is  as 
much  beyond  the  reach  of  this  House  aa  the 
election  of  Grant  or  Washington. 

Again,  if  the_  object  of  this  resolution  is 
merely  to  organize  a  committee  for  campaign 
purposes,  to  make  campai^gn  literature  for  the 
coming  fall,  I  afiQrm  that  the  exigencies  of  » 
.  political  party  have  never  yet  been  treated  a«  a 
question  of  privilege. 

Furthermore,  there  is  in  this  resolution — ancfe 
I  reserve  the  point  of  order  after  the  point  nowr 
raised  shall  have  been  settled— a  proposition: 
that  the  committee  shall  have  the  right  to  re- 
port at  any  time,  and  that  they  shall  have  the 
right  to  sit  in  recess.  Neither  of  these  things 
can  be  effected  by  a  majority  vote  if  it  comes  to 
that,  and  I  reserve  on  them  the  points  of  order 
when  the  time  shall  have  arrived.  I  conclude 
by  saying  I  am  glad  that  at  last,  after  this  pro- 
ceeding has  so  Jong  been  hanging  over  the  coun- 
try, we  noxo  know  what  they  arc  .seeldna  to  da.. 
For  some  weeks  I  have  been  inclined  to  say  to. 
these  gentlemen,  in  the  language  of  Hamlet  to, 
the  players- 
Leave  off  your  damnable  faces  and  begin.. 

The  stand  which  one  independent  Demo- 
crat took— He  protests  against  the  threat- 
ened ''usurpation"  of  power  hy  the 
House  in  the  interest  of  the  revolution- 
ists, 

Mr.  Mills,  of  Texas,  said  :  *  *  The  exercise- 
of  the  po-wer  by  the  Forty-fifth  Congress  over 
the  question  of  the  election  of  President  of  the 


38 


United  States  is  a  ufurpa^io/i.  Wc  have  no 
potoer  over  that  qucstitin  at  all.  By  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Hnited  States  that  power  to  in- 
quire as  to  who  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States  was  vested  in  the  Forty-fourth 
Congress,  and  when  that  Congress  spoke  or 
failed  to  speak  on  that  question,  when  it  made 
a  law  by  which  it  abdicated  that  power  con- 
ferred upon  it  bv  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  it  parted  icith  it  forever,  and  so  far  as 
this,  the  Forty-fifth  Congress,  is  concerned, 
there  remains  not  a  shadow  of  authority  to  in- 
vestigate the  election  of  the  President. 

Speaker  Randall's  ruling— He  founds  it  on 
tlie  Maryland  Quo  Warranto  resolution 
which  demands  "  action  "  against  Hayes' 
title— The  investigation  boundless  in  the 
one  direction  and  the  "remedies"  with- 
out "  limits." 

The  Speaker's  decision  was  as  follows  : 

The  issue  involved  is  a  new  one  in  the  history 
of  our  country.  An  examination  of  the  basis 
upon  which  the  preamble  and  resolution  are  in- 
troduced is  proper.  The  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Maryland  passed  a  joint  resolution  touch- 
ing the  subject  treated  of  in  the  preamble  and 
resolution  just  read,  a  copy  of  which  has  been 
remitted  to  this  body,  received  and  referred, 
and  is  within  the  knowledge  of  the  members 
of  the  House.    The  following  language  is  used : 

"  That  due  efifect  has  not  been  given  to  the 
electoral  vote  cast  by  this  State  on  the  6th  day 
of  December,  1876,  by  reason  of  fraudulent  re- 
turns made  from  other  (States  and  allowed  to 
be  counted  provisionally  by  the  electoral  com- 
mission and  subject  to  judicial  revision—" 

And  further— 
"Alleging  that  the  returns  from  Louisiana  and 
Florida,  which  were  counted  for  the  present 
occupant  of  the  executive  chair,  were  iraudu 
lent  and  void." 

Here  is  the  appeal  of  a  State  of  this  Union  to 
the  Federal  legislative  power  for  the  correction 
of  a  high  grievance  said  to  have  been  com- 
mitted in  the  States  of  Florida  and  Louisiana 
against  the  rights  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  in 
having  by  fraud,  in  said  States  of  Florida  and 
Louisiana,  produced  a  different  result  in  the 
election  "f  a  President  and  Vice  President  from 
that  actually  decreed  by  the  people  themselves 
at  the  polls. 

Whether  these  allegations  can  b^  sustained 
by  proof,  is  not  for  the  Chair  to  consider.  It 
is  enough  for  him  to  know  that  they  come  from 
a  power  which  within  the  limits  is  recognized 
fks  sovereign  by  the  Constitution  and  that  the 
issue  involved  runs  to  the  welfare  of  the  people 
of  all  the  States.  Nor  is  it  within  the  range 
of  propriety  for  him  to  express  an  o  inion  as 
to  how  far  such  investigation  should  go  to 
reach  the  facts,  nor  lohat  limits  should  be  set  up 
as  to  remedies  to  be  provided  against  a  recur- 
rence of  such  like  events. 

A  higher  privilege  than  the  one  here  in- 
volved, and  broadly  and  directly  presented  as 
to  the  rightful  occupancy  of  the  CJiief  Executive 
chair  of  the  Government,  a,nd  th'i  connection  of 
high  Government  olHcials  with  the  frauds  al- 
leged, the  Chair  is  unable  to  conceiire. 

The  Chair  finds  enumerated  amonsr  the  ques- 
tions of  privilege  set  down  i^:  the  Manual  the 
following;  "  Elect'on  of  President." 

The  Chair  therefore  rules  fnat  the  preamble 
and  resolution  embrace  questions  of  privilege 
of  the  highest  character,  and  recognizes  the 
right  of  the  gentleman  from  New  York  to  offer 
the  same. 

An   Appeal  from  that  Decision— Straight 
Partisan  "Vote. 

Mr.     Conger    (Republican)     appealed 


fiom  this  decision ;  but  a  motion  by- 
Potter  (Democrat)  to  lay  the  appeal  on 
the  table  prevailed,  by  128  yeas  to  108 
nays  ;  all  the  former  Democrats,  except  2 
Republicans,  and  all  the  latter  Republi- 
cans, except  two  Democrats,  as  follows : 

Yeas— Messrs.  Acldin,  Aiken,  Atkins,  Ban- 
ning, Beebe.  H.  P.  Bell  Benedict,  Bickntll, 
Blackburn,  Bliss,  Blount,  Boone,  Bouck,  Bragg, 
Bridge;  Bright,  Butler,  J.  W.  Caldwell,  W.  P. 
Caldwell,  Caiidler,  Chalmers,  A.  A.  Clark,  J.  B. 
Clarke,  Clymer,  Cobb,  Collins,  Cook,  S.  S.  Cox, 
Oravejis,  Crittenden,  Culberson,  Cutler,  J.  J. 
Davis,  Dean,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  Durham,  Eden, 
Elam,  Ellis,  J.  H.  Evins,  Exoing,  Felton,  E.  B. 
Finley,  Forney,  Fort,  Franklin,  Garth.  Gawe, 
Gibson,  Glover,  Gunter,  Hardenbtrgh,  H.  R. 
Harris,  Harrison,  Hartridge,  Hanzell,  Hatcher, 
Henkle,  Henry,  Herbert,  A  S.  Hewitt,  G.  W. 
Hewitt,  Hooker.  House,  F.  Jones,  J.  T  Joues, 
Kenna,  Kimmel,  Knapp,  Ligon,  Lockioood,  Lut- 
trell,  Lynde,  Mackey,  Manni'tp,  Murtin,  May- 
ham,  McKenzie,  McMahon,  Mitchell,  Morgan, 
Morrison,  Muldrow,  MulLr,  T.  M.  Patterson, 
Phelpi,  C.  N.  Pot'er,  Pridemore,  Rea,  R-agan,J. 
R.  Reilly,  Riddle.  W.  M.  Robbins,  Robertson,  M. 
Rose.  Say  let,  Seale<  Schleicher,  S'lelley,  Single- 
ton, Slemon",  W.  E.  Smith,  Southard,  Sparks, 
Springer,  Steele,  Stenger,  Swann,  Throckmorton, 
R.  W.  Tjwnshend,   Tucker,  Turner,    Turney,    R. 

B.  Vance,  Waddell,  Walxh,  Whitthorne,  Wig- 
ginton,  A.  S.  Williams.  J.  Williams,  J.  N.  Wil- 
liams, A.  S.  Will's,  B.  Wilson.  F.  Wood,  Wnghf, 

Yeote-,  Young— 128. 

Nays— Messrs.  Bacon,  J.  H.  Baker,  Banks, 
Bayne,  Blair,  Boyd,  Brentano,  Brewer,  Briggs, 
Brogden,  T.  M.  Browne,  Buckner,  Bundy,  H. 

C.  Burchard,  Burdick,  Cain,  Calkins.  Camp,  J. 
M.  Campbell,  Cannon,  Caswell.  Claflin,  R. 
Clark,  Cole,  Conger,  J.  D.  Cox,  ©rapo,  Cum- 
mings,  Danford,  H.  Davis,  Deering,  Denison, 
Dunnell,  Dwight.  Bames,  Ellsworth,  Errett,  L 
N.  Evans,  J.  L.  Evans,  Foster,  Gardner,  Gar-, 
field,  Hale,  Harmer,  Haskell,  P.  C.  Hayes 
Hazelton,  Hendee,  Henderson.  Hiscock,  Hub- 
bell,  H.  L.  Humphrey,  Hungerford,  Hunter  t 
Ittner,  James,  J.  S.  Jones,  Jorgensen,  Joycci 
Keifer,  Keightley,  Kelley,  J.  H.  Keteham, 
Killinger,  Lapham,  Lathrop,  Marsh,  McCook. 
McQowan,  McKinley,  L.  S.  Metcalfe.  M'lh, 
Monroe,  H.  S.  Neal,  Oliver,  O'Neill,  Page,  G. 
W.  Patterson.  Peddle,  W.  A.  Philips,  Pound, 
Price,  Pugh,  Rainey,  Randolph,  Reed.  W.  W. 
Rice,  Ryan,  Sampson,  Sapp,  Sexton,  Shallen- 
berger,  Smalls.  Stewart,  J.  W.  Stone,  J.  C. 
Stone,  Strait,  J.  M.  Thompson.  Thornburgh, 
Tipton,  A.  Townsend,  Van  Vorhes,  Wait,  W. 
Ward,  H.  White,  M.  D.  White.  C.  G.  Williams, 
Wren-108. 

Potter  gags  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  nearly  a  week— Aleck  Stevens  yelled 
down,  etc. 

Mr._  Hale  asked  Potter  to  yield  so  that 
he  might  offer  a  general  amendment, 
(which  will  be  found  under  the  chapter  on 
'  'Democratic  Frauds")  to  enlarge  the  sweep 
of  the  resolution,  so  that  alleged  frauds 
of  the  Democrats  at  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion might  also  be  investigated,  but  Potter 
declined,  called  the  previous  question,  and 
would  not  even  be  civil  until  he  suddenly 
found  himself,  through  the  absence  of  his 
revolutionary  party  friends,  without  a 
quorum,  and  was  obliged  to  move  an  ad- 
journment, which  was  carried.  For  several 
days    Revolutionary    Potter    insisted    on 


39 


the  "previous  question,"  and  would  not 
let  a  soul  be  heard  on  it ;  refusing  even  to 
hear  Mills,  one  of  his  Democratic  friends, 
and  the  venerable  statesman,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  whom  when  he 
strove  to  gain  a  brief  hearing  was  abso- 
lutely yelled  and  hooted  down  by  the 
I  Democratic  revolutionists;  and  for  as  many 
days  the  Republicans  refused  to  vote,  as 
they  could  not  amend  the  resolution  nor  be 
heard  in  protest  against  it.  But  at  last,  on 
the  17th  May — after  five  days  of  Democratic 
absenteeism  —  enough  Democrats  were 
secured  to  make  a  quorum,  the  iniquity 
was  accomplished,  and  the  Potter- Tilden 
revolutionists  were  successful.  The  reso- 
lution was  adopted  by  146  Democratic 
yeas  to  2  Democratic  nays — all  the  Repub- 
licans and  7  Democrats  declining  to  vote — 
as  follows: 

The  Iniquitous  Record  of  the  Democratic 
party's  dislionor— Tlie  vote  in  full  on  the 
Potter  Investigating  Resolution. 

Yeas— Messrs.  Acklen,  Aiken,  Atkins,  Ban- 
ning, Beebe,  H.  P.  Bell,  Benedict,  Bicknell, 
Blackburn,  Bland,  Bliss,  Blount,  Boone,  Bouck, 
Bragg,  Bridges,  Bright,  Buekner,  Cabell,  J.  W. 
Caldwell,    W.  P.  Caldwell,    Candler,  Chalmers, 

A.  A.  Clark,  J,  B.  Clark,  Clymer,  Cobb,  Collins, 
Cook,  S.  S.  Cox,  Cravens,  Crittenden,  Culberson, 
Cutler,  Davidson,  J.  J.  Davis,  Dean,  Dihrell, 
Dickey,  Douglas,  Durham,  Eden,  Eickhoff, 
Elam,  Ellis,  J.  H.  Evins,  Ewing,  Felton,  E  B. 
Finley,  Forney,  Franklin,  Fuller,  Garth,  Cause, 
Gibson,  Giddings,  Glover,  Goode,  Gunter,  A.  H. 
Hamilton,  Hardenburgh,  H.  R.  Harris,  J.  T. 
Harris,  Harrison,  Hart,  Hartridge,  Hartzell, 
Hatcher,  Henkle,  Henry,  Herbert,  A.  S.  Hewitt, 
G.  W.  Hewitt,  Hooker,  House,  Hunfon,  F.  Jones, 
J.  T.  Jones,  Kenna,  Kimmell,  Knapp,  Ligon, 
Lockwood,  Luttrell,  Lynde,  Mackey,  Maish, 
Manning,  Martin,  Mayham,  McKenzie,  Mc- 
Mahon,  Money,  Morgan,  Morrison,  Muldroio, 
Muller,  T.  M.  Patterson,  Phelps,  C.  N.  Potter, 
Pridemore,  liea,  Reagan,  J.  B.  Reilly,  A.  V. 
Rice,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Robbins,  Roberts,  Robert- 
son, M.  Ross,  Sayler,  Scales,  Schleicher,  Shelley, 
Singleton,  Slemons,  W  E.  Smith,  Southard, 
Sparks,  Springer,  Steele,  Stenger,  Swann,  Throck- 
morton, R.  W.  Townshend,  Tucker,  Turner,  Tur- 
ney,  R.  B.  Vance,  Veeder,  Waddell,  Walker, 
Walsh,  Warner,  Whitthorne,  Wigginton,  A.  S. 
Williams,  J.  Williams,  J.  N.  Williams,  A.  S. 
Willis,  B.  A.  Willis,  B.  Wilson,  F.  Wood, 
Wright,  Yeates,  Young— li6. 

Nays— Messrs   Mills,  Morse— 2, 

Not  Voting— Messrs.  Aldrich.  Bacon,  G.  A. 
Bagley,  J.  H.  Baker,  W.  H.  Baker,  Ballou, 
Banks,  Bayne,  Bisbae,  Blair.  Boyd,  Brentano, 
Brewer.  Briggs,  Brogden,  T.  M,  Browne,  Bundy, 
H.  C.  Burchard.  Burdick.  Butler,  Cain,  Cal- 
kins, Camp,  J.  M.  Campbell,  Cannon,  Carlisle, 
Caswell,  Chittenden.  Claflin.  R.  Clark,  J.  B. 
Clarke,  Cole,  Conger,  Covert,  J.  D.  Cox.  Crapo, 
Cummings,  Danford,  H.  Davis,  Deering,  Deni- 
soD.  Dunnell.Dwight.Eames.  Ellsworth, Errett, 
I.  N.  Evans,  J.  L.  Evans.  Fort,  Foster,  Freeman, 
Frye,  Gardner,  Garfield,  Hale,  Hanna.  Ilarmer, 

B.  W.  Harris  Haskell.  P.  C.  Hayes,  Hazelton, 
Hendee,  Henderson,  fliscock,  fiubbeli,  H.  L. 
Humphrey, Hungerford,  Hunter,  Ittner,  James, 
J.  o.  Jones.  Jorgenson,  Joyce,  Koifer,  Keightly, 
Kelley,  J.  H.  Ketcham,  Killenger.  Knoft,  G.  M. 
Landers,  Lapham.  Lathrop,  Lindsey,  Loring, 
Marsh.  McCook,  McGowan,  McKinley,  L.  S. 
Metcalfe,  Mitchell,  Monroe,  H.  S.  Neal,  Nor- 


cross,  Oliver.  O'Neill.  Overton,  Page,  G.  W. 
Patterson,  Peddie,  W.  A.  Phillips,  Pollard, 
Pound,  Powers,  Price,  Pugh,  Quinn,  Rainey. 
Randolph,  Reed.  W.  W.  Rice,  G.  D.  Robinson, 
M.  S.Robinson.  Ryan,  Sampson,  Sapp,  Sexton, 
Shallenberger,  Sinnickson,  Smalls,  A.  H.  Smith, 
Statin,  Stephens,  Stewart,  J.  W.  Rtone.  J.  C. 
Stone,  Strait,  J.  M.  Thompson,  Thornburgh, 
Tipton,  A.  Townsend,  M.  I.  Townsend,  Van 
Vorhes,  Wait,  W.  Ward,  Watson,  Welch.  H. 
White,  M,  D.  White,  A.  Williams,  C.  G.  Wil- 
liams. R.  Williamf.  Willits,  Wren— 143. 


PART  IX. 

The  Casey  Young  Resolution— 
Tlie  Democratic  Caucus  reject 
tlie  proposed  declaration  that 
"it  is  not  intended  by  this  pro- 
ceeding to  di!<»turb  the  present 
Chief  Magistrate"  -  Republi- 
can Caucus  declares  the  Pot- 
ter movement  *'revolution- 
ary,"  and  decide  on  resistance 
—Republican  address  to  the 
People— The  Potter  Plot  to 
suborn  witnesses,  declare 
Hayes  an  Usur«>er,  and  put 
him  out  of  the  White  House. 

On  the  night  of  Tuesday,  May  14,  1878, 
a  caucus  of  the  Democrats  of  the  House 
was  held,  whereat  a  resolution  to  add  to 
the  Potter  resolution  the  following  declar- 
ation was  defeated : 

But  it  is  not  intended  by  this  lyroceeding  to  dis- 
turb the  present  Chief  Magistrate  in  the  occupancy 
of  his  office,  nor  to  impair  public  confidence 
in  the  policy  he  has  inaugurated  toward  the 
Southern  States. 

Which  was  overwhelmingly  defeated . 

It  was  said  (see  Washington  Republican,^  May 
16)  that  many  of  those  present  actually  believed 
the  amendment  was  right,  but  were  whipped 
into  the  party  traces  by  Speaker  Randall. 

The  Republican  cavicus  unanimously  de- 
nounces the  Potter  resolution  as  "revo- 
lutionary," and  decides  to  "resist." 

At  a  caucus  of  Republican  members  of 
the  House,  May  15,  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  resolution  now  pending  in 
the  House  is  an  attempt,  in  a  form  unjustifiable 
and  illegal,  to  reopen  the  question  of  the  Presi- 
dential title,  a  question  solemnly  settled  by  the 
action  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  which 
alone  had  jurisdiction  ;  and  is,  therefore,  revo- 
lutionary and  destructive  of  the  good  order, 
business  prosperity,  and  peace  of  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  the  «fi"ort  of  the  Democratic 
majority  to  force  upon  the  House,  without  op- 
portunity for  amendment  or  debate,  a  measure 
of  sudh  revolutionary  character,  which  has  not 
been  recommended  or  considered  by  any  of  its 
oommittees,  but  has  been  devised  by  individ- 
uals for  private  or  party  ends,  should  be  re- 
sisted by  all  the  means  which  are  authorized 
by  the  rules  of  the  House. 


40 


B«publican  address  to  the  voters  of  the 
VolteA  States— Tlte  iN>tter  pint— Tlie  in- 
tooiloii  tt)  *'HUl>orii  evideuce"  deoJa<« 
2H»3^!4  "nai  ui4ar)>er,"  and  didve  btan 
*f!poni  Kls  ofllce. 

TT*  THB  YOTERS  OF  THE  TTsiTKT)  STATES  : 

•^The  Democratic  Hvmse  of  Ropreeentativw 
i»8thi8  day  (Miy  17)  by  a  party  v«tB,  adtxptad 
a  resolution  "which,  under  the  pretense  of  an 
investigation,  is  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a 
revolutionary  expulsion  of  the  President  from 
his  office.  This  is  the  culmination  of  a  plot 
which  has  been  on  foot  from  the  day  that 
Hayes  and  Wheeler  were  constitutionally  de- 
clared elected.  It  made  Its  first  public  appear- 
ance in  the  resolution  of  the  last  Democratic 
fia«se,  adopt'd  at  th«  c'oBe  of  th«s«Bflion,de- 
«l«fine  that  Tilden  and  Headricke  were  elected. 
Tilden  and  Hendricks  subsequently  made  sim- 
Mar  public  declarations  th«mselv«s, 

A  f«w  tim.id  members  bav«  long  held  back, 
«nd  eem-e  of  them  after  being  coerced  to  the 
Awd  <irote,  still  pretend  that  they  will  halt  as 
fKkoa  «*  their  partial  and  one-sided  investiga- 
^aa  shall  be  ended.  In  other  words,  they  in- 
^pOBil,  after  hearing  suborned  evidenee,  to  brang 
in -a  verdict  that  Hayes  is  an  usurper,  and  that 
Iw^ail  remain  in  office  !  These  men  have  no 
mowtrel  in  the  Bemoaratic  party;  they  dared 
not  even  follow  Alexander  H.  Stephens  in  a 
iwolt  against  caucus  dictation  10  the  extent  of 
■showing  some  semblance  of  f»ir  phiy.  They 
will  be  impoteat  in  the  future  as  the?  have 
Irorn  in  tbe  past.  Moreover,  it  is  diffitjult  to 
-believe  in  tbeir  sincerity,  in  view  of  the  public 
avowal  of  their  party  that  its  purpose  is  posi- 
tively to  displace  the  President. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  that  the  resolution 
j  U8t  adopted  was  framed  to  express  this  object. 
The  Speaker  of  the  House  was  consulted  in 
advance  a«  to  whether  he  would  rule  that  it 
was  a  privilep«d  Question.  The  party  managers 
■were  anxious  to  conceal  their  purposes,  if  pos- 
sible. In  this  they  were  defeated  by  the 
Speaker,  who  would  not  rule  it  a  question  of 
privilege  unless  it  clearly  assailed  the  title  of 
th«  President.  The  r- solution  being  offered, 
i«Tead  a  carefully-prepared  opinion,  deciding 
it  tob«  a  question  of  highest  privilege,  becauae 
■it  involved  the  question  of  the  validvy  of  Hayes' 
title.    These  are  his  very  words  : 

"A  higher  privilege  than  the  one  here  in- 
•volvod,  and  broadly  and  direcMy  presented  as 
^  the  rightful  occupancy  of  the  Chief  Execu- 
■fiwB  chair  of  the  Governmejt  and  the  connec- 
tion-of  high  Government  officials  with  thefrauds 
alleged,  the  Chair  is  unable  to  conceive.  The 
Chair  finds  enumerated  among  the  questions  of 
privilege  set  down  in  the  Manual  the  following: 
"Election  of  President.'  The  Chair  therefore 
rules  that  the  preamble  and  resolution  cm- 
8>raee  questions  of  privilege  of  the  highest 
character,  and  recognizes  the  right  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  New  York  to  offer  the  same." 

Uuon  this  the  Republicans  commenced  a 
struggle  against  the  revolutionary  scheme, 
which,  after  four  days'  duration,  terminated  in 
the  success  of  the  conspirators. 

The  Republicans  offered  to  favor  the  fullest 
iinvest  gation  into  all  alleged  frauds,  by  which- 
ever party  charged  to  have  been  committed; 
bat  the  Bemocracy  pursued  its  course  shame- 
lessly and  relentlessly,  and  stifled  all  inquiry 
itJto  attempts  at  bribery  in  Oregon.  South  Car- 
olina and  Louisiana,  and  murder  and  violence 
aa  several  of  the  States.  Neither  amendment 
aM»r  debate  was  allowed.  The  inexorable  pre- 
vious question  was  applied  and  enforced. 

This  scheme,  if  pursued — and  it  is  now  fully 
inaugurated — can  only  have  the  effect  of  fur- 
ijfcer  paralyzing  business  of  all  kinds,  prevent- 
isag  tne  restoration  of  confidence  Y?^hich  seemed 
promising,  casting  a  gloom  ever  every  house- 


hold, and  bringing  our  nation  into  reproach 
before  the  civihtoa  world. 

The  peace  of  the  country  is  the  first  consider- 
ation of  patriots.  This  now  effort  of  the  Bora  - 
ocracy  to  inaugurate  anarchy  and  Mexicanixe 
the  Qovetrnment  by  throwing  doubts  upon  the 
lofritimftcy  of  the  title  of  the  President  is  in 
keeping  with  the  record  of  that  party,  one  wing 
of  Avhich  rebelled  against  the  Government, 
while  the  other  wing  gave  th-em  aid  and  com- 
fort. 

"We  call,  therefore,  upon  all  who  opposed  the 
rebellion  of  1861,  without  distinction  of  party, 
to  rally  again  to  the  support  of  law  and  stable 
government,  and  to  overwholm  with  defeat  the 
reckless  agitators  who,  to  gain  political  power, 
would  add  to  the  present  distresses  of  the  coua- 
try  by  shaking  the  foundations  of  the  G)vom- 
mont  they  failei  in  a  four  years'  wir  to  destroy. 

"By  unanimous  order  of  tne  committee. 

EUGENE  HALE.  Chairman. 

George  C.  Gorham,  Secretary. 


PART  X. 

Alexander  H.  i^tepliens*  ILietter  | 
to  Potter— His  patlietic  ap' 
peal— TIte  filden  RufHans  lio<>t 
liim  dotrn  in  the  Ifonse— In- 
terview witli  Stepltens— "Snug, 
the  Joiner"  —  **The  People 
want  peace  and  qniet." 

Tha  followinoj  letter  was  sent  to  Potter 
from  Alexatid^T  H.  Stepliens'  sick  room 
the  day  before  he  was  howled  down  in  the 
Hou'se  by  the  Democrats  : 
Potter's  course  divides  Democrats  and 
unites  'RepubUcaug. 

National  Hotrl,  Washinoton,  D.  C,  I 
May  15,  1S78.     J 
The  Hon.  Clarkson  N.  Potter,  Houhc  of  Rep- 

resentativef): 
My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  still  confined  to  my 
room  in  this  city.  I  greatly  regret  that  I  can- 
not go  and  see  you  in  person.  Lat  me,  then, 
say  to  you  in  this  way  that  I  think  it  will  be  a 
great  mistake  if  our  friends  in  the  House  shall 
pass  your  resolution  under  the  previous  ques- 
tion, thus  cutting  off  Mr.  Hale's  or  other 
amendments  looking  to  enlarged  investigation. 
Do  not  insist  on  the  preyious  question,  I  could 
not  vote  for  it  if  I  were  present,  and  were  not 
pairedas  I  am;  nor  could  I  vote  for  the  resolution 
under  the  previous  question  without  al. owing 
amendments.  It  would  only  divide  the  Dem- 
ocracy and  unite  the  Republicans.  My  opinion 
is  that  mischief  instead  of  good  will  come  of  th-e 
investigation  by  the  passage  of  your  resolu- 
tion as  it  is  under  the  previous  question.  Please 
excuse  this  note.  I  feel  it  my  duty,  feeble  as  I 
am.  to  send  it  to  you.  Very  respectfully  and 
truly  yours,  &o.,  Alex.  H.  Stephens. 

Stephens,  of  Oeorgia,  asks  to  be  heard 
only  tliree  tnmutes— lint  they  "order" 
Iiim  into  his  seat. 

M^y  IG,  Mr.  Stephens,  in  apite  of  every 
attempt  of  Republicans  to  insure  him  a 
respectful  hearing,  was  yelled  down  by 
the  Democrats  with  cries  ot  "order,"  &c., 
although  he  only  asked  the  poor  privilege 
of  three  minutes.  Following  is  how  it  is 
mildly  stated  in  the  Congressional  Record: 

Mr.  Stephens,  of  Georgia.  I  wish  to  say  a 
word  on  this  question.    [Cries  of  "  Order  !"] 


41 


Mr.  Wait.  Will  not  gftn.tiem.en  on  the  other 
side  listen  to  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  ? 

Mr.  Stephens,  of  Georgia.  I  ask  to  be  heard 
fox  three  minutes.    [Cries  of  "Regular  Order.'T 

The  Speaker.  The  gentleman  from  Georgia 
asks  to  he  heard  for  three  minutes.  Is  there 
objection  ?    [Cries  of  "  Regular  Order  !"] 

Mr.  Humphrey.  There  is  no  objection  on  this 
side  at  all  to  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  being 
heard. 

Mr.  Potter.  If  I  could  yield  to  anybody  it 
would  afibrd  me  great  pleasure  to  yield  to  the 
gentleman  from  Georgia.  But  I  am  not  per- 
mitted to  yield  to  anybody.  I  ana  instructed  to 
stand  where  I  am.  I  therefore  move  that  the 
House  do  now  adiouin. 

An     Interview    with     Mr.    Stephens,     of 
Creorgia. 

On  the  evening  of  the  15th  a  represent- 
ative of  the  Washington  Repuhlican  called 
on  Mr.  Stephens  at  the  National  Hotel, 
when  the  following  colloquy  ensued : 
He  believes  in  Hale's  or  any  other  auiencl- 
ment  enlarging  the  Investigation. 

Republican.  I  wish,  now,^  to  ask  you,  Mr. 
Stephens,  if  you  think  there  will  soon  be  a  set- 
tlement of  the  dead-)ock  in  the  House? 

Mr.  Stephens.  Well,  in  the  first  place,  I  will 
vote  for  no  investigation  that  is  not  fair  and 
honest.  I  think  the  Republicans  should  have 
every  latitude  to  investigate  in  the  same  com- 
mittee that  the  Democrats  do. 

R.  What  are  you  in  favor  of? 

Mr.  S.  I  am  in  favor  of  voting  down  the  pre- 
vious question  ;  in  favor  of  Mr.  Hale's  amend- 
ment, and  allowing  the  Republicans  to     flFer 
•  anything  they  may  see  fit,  if  they  think  there 
has  been  any  fraud. 

R.  That  is  fair. 

Notliing  "one-sided"  for  him — Wliat  he 
pi'oposed  to  sviggest  to  tlie  House — Peace 
wanted — No  more  sectional  strife. 

Mr.  S.  "Yes.  I  want  no  one-sided  investiga- 
tion; and  if  I  can  get  the  flocur.  to-morrow  I 
vrill  move  that  the  House  take  a  vote  upon  or- 
dering  the   previous   question,  and  that  the 
House  do  not  order  it.    Then,  if  that  is  voted 
down,  the  Potter  resolution  will  be  open  to 
amendment.    I  believe  there  are  a  great  many 
:  Democrats  who  will  unite  with  theRepublicans 
'  in  a  full  investigation  for  the  purpose  of  defeat- 
ing this  one-sided  business.    Let  both  sides  be 
.  heard.  Honesty  in  politics,  as  well  as  in  morals, 
■  is  the  best  policy.  Mr.  Hayes'  title  to  the  Pres- 
idency I  regard  as  fixed  beyond  all  question. 
The  people   of  this  country  want  peace  and 
:  quiet.    They  want  no  more  sectional  strife.  Mr. 
!   Hayes  has  done  more,  I  believe,  to  produce 
quiet  in  the  South  than  Mr.  Tilden  could  have 
\  done,  and  more  than  anybody  expected  at  the 
i  time  of  his  inauguration.  I  think  he  has  faith- 
I  fully  performed  his  constitutional  duty.    Noth- 
'  ing  would  do  more  to  unsettle  business  than  to 
5  attack  his  title." 

"Snug,  the  Joiner." 

R.  "But  don't  you  think  that  Mr.  Potter 
contemplates  attacking  it  ?" 

Mr,  S.  "I  don't  know.  1  think  Mr.  Potter 
in  this  matter  is  something  like  Snuff,  the 
joiner,  in  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream,'  who 
clothes  himself  in  lion's  skin  and  roars,  but 
confidentially  informs  his  fellow-actors  that  be 
is  not  the  lion  he  seems  to  be— simply  Snug,  the 
joiner." 

"If    they   reject  the   Hale    amendment," 
they  "will  he  deceived." 

"  No,  no,"  continued  Mr.  Stephens,  "  if  they 
must  have  investigation,  why  let  us  have  it: 


but  let  it  be  free,  full,  and  fair.  If  they  eanw 
it  on  in  a  one-sided  w»y  thej'  wiil  do  as  tlit© 
Democracy  did  in  1860,  when  they  thougllt 
they  wouM  throw  the  contesting  Piei'ideijtial 
aspirants  into  the  House,  where  they  hai  a 
majority  of  the  votes,  and  thereby  elect  Breofe- 
enridge.  But  they  only  looked  t  the  one  side, 
and  they  were  deceived,  as  this  Tilden-Potteir 
combination  will  be  if  they  reject  the  Hale 
amesdment. 


PAKT  XI. 

Carter  Harrison's  "Question  of 
Privilege"— To  exteud  the  In- 
vestigation to  Oregon  au«l 
South  Carolina  onry— Declajr- 
ing  against  the  power  of  tfeiss 
Congress  to  annul  the  Presi- 
dLential  finding. 

May  22,  1878— Carter  Harrison,  (D&at- 
ocrat,)  who  stole  his  seat  in  the  Hiowse 
when  his  opponent,  as  it  now  appears, 
was  entitled  to  it  by  a  large  majority  oJT 
votes,  submitted  the  following  as  a  ques- 
tion of  privilege  : 

Whereas,  A  select  committee  of  this  House 
hss  been  appointed  to  inquire  into  certaiiu 
frauds  alleged  to  have  been  comBDitted  in 
Florida  and  Louisiana  in  November,  1876t  in 
connection  with  returns  of  votes  for  electors, 
for  President  and  Vice  President :  and 

Whereas,  It  is  charged  that  frauds  of  a  like 
character  were  committed  at  the  same  time  in 
the  States  of  Oregon  and  South  Carolina  r 
therefore. 

Be  it  resolved,  That  said  committee  be,  and 
hereby  is,  empowered  to  inquire  into  llxe 
saw  e,  if  in  its  opinion  testimony  thereon  of  a 
substantial  character  shall  be  presented  to  the 
committee:  and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  Ttat  the  Senate  a»cC 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  Forty-fourtb 
Congress  having  counted  the  electoral  votes  for 
President  and  Vice  President,  and  it  hatving- 
been  thereupon  declared  that  Rutherford.  B. 
Hayes  had  received  the-  highest  number  of 
saiH  votes  for  Prfrsident  of  the  United  States, 
and  William  A.  Wheeler  had  received  the 
highest  number  of  said  votes  for  Vice  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  Stales,  it  is  not  now  in  tke 
powerof  Congress,  nor  is  it  the  purpose  of  this 
House  through  said  investigation  to  annul  or 
to  attempt  to  annul  the  action  of  the  Eerty- 
fourth  Congress,  in  the  premises. 
The  Vote — ^Forty-eight  Democrats   Fi-aiitic 

Enong'h  to   "  Declare "  that   the    Power 

and  Purpose  is  to  get  Hayes  out. 

On  the  question  whether  the  Honse 
will  entertain  it  as  a  qneBtion  of  privilege, 
the  yeas  were  71,  nays  50: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Atkins,  Banning,  H.  P.  BelT, 
Bland,  Bliss,  Boone,  Bouck,  Brentano,  Cabetlr 
W.  P.  Caldwell,  Cannon,  Chalmers,  A.  A.  Clark, 
R,  Clark,  Cohb,  J.  D.  Cox,  S.  S.  Cose,  Culberson, 
Cutler,  J.  J.  Davin, Durham,  Eden,  Elani,.  Felton, 
E.  B.  Finleu,  Fort,  Franklin,  Garth.  Giddii^gs^ 
Olover,  Goode,  Hardenbergh,  J.  T.  Harris,  Har- 
rison, HartzeU,  Ha'cher,  Henkle,  Henry,  Hunt&u, 
Kelley,  Lynde,  McMahoiL,  Mitchell.  Morrison,. 
G.  W.  Patterson.  T.  M.  Patterson,  G.  N.  Potter, 
Pound,  Rea,  J.  B.  Reilly,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Boi- 
bin».  Scales,  Steele,  Stenger,  Sioann,  Tlirockm<Mt- 
ton,  R.  W.  Totonshend,  Turney,  R.  B.  Vanoe^ 
Waddell,  Walsh,M.  D.White,  Whitthorne,Wiif' 


42 


mnton,  A.  S,  WiUiama,  B.  A.  Willis,  B.  Wilson, 
F.  Wood,  Wright,  I'eofe*— 71. 

Nats— MMSrt.  Bickndl,  Blackburn,  Blount, 
Braoo,  Bridget,  Briqht,  Buckner,  J.  W.  Cald- 
wM,  Candler,  Oarlitile,  Clumer,  Cook,  Oravens, 
Crittenden,  Davidson,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  J.  H. 
JSvins,  Forney,  Fuller,  Oaune,  Qunter.A.  U. 
Hamilton,  H.  R.  Harris,  Hartridge,  Herbert, 
0.  W.  Hewitt,  J.  T,  Jones,  Kenna,  KUlinger, 
Knapp,  Knott,  Liaon,  Mannvig,  Mayham,  Mc- 
Kemte.  Milh,  Muldrow,  Oliver,  Phelps,  Pride- 
more,  ileagan,  Robertson,  Shelley,  Sinyhton,  W. 
E.  Smith,  Southard,  Turner,  H.  White,  J.  N. 
Williams-^. 

A  quorum  not  having  voted,  Harrison 
yielded  to  the  pressure  of  his  party  frienda 
and  withdrew  his  resolution. 

The  Investii^atlon  Extended  Provided  the 
Democratic  Committee  Believe  Fi'auds 
Existed  Elsewhere. 

Benjamin  Wilson,  Democrat,  on  the 
same  day  oflfered  the  following  specious 
resolution : 

Whereas,  a  select  committee  of  this  House 
has  heretofore  been  appointed  to  investigate 
alleged  frauds  in  connection  with  the  electoral 
vote  of  the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Florida; 
now,  therefore, 

Be  it  resolved.  That  such  committee  be,  and 
they  are  hereby.authorizedto  investigate  frauds 
touching  the  election  aforesaid  in  any  other 
State,  provided  they  have  probable  cause  to 
believe  that  such  frauds  existed. 

"  Sunset"  Cox  moved  to  refer  the  res- 
olution to  the  Potter  investigating  com- 
mittee !  And  89  Democrats  voted  to  so 
refer,  while  only  29  Democrats  voted 
against  such  reference.  Cox's  motion  was 
defeated,  however,  by  89  yeas — 116  nays — 
as  follows: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Atkins.  H.  P.  Bell,  Bicknell, 
Blackburn,  Bliss,  Blount,  Boone,  Bouck,  Bragg, 
Bridges,  Bright,  J.  W.  Caldwell,  W.  P.  Caldwell, 
Candler,  Chalmers,  Clymer,  Cook,  S.  S.  Cox, 
Cravens,  Crittenden,  Culberson,  Davidson,  J.  J. 
Davis,  Dibrell,  Dickey,  Durham,  Eden,  Eick- 
hoff,  Elam,  J.  H.  Evins,  Ewing,  E.  B.  Finley, 
Forney,  Fuller,  Oarth,  Cause,  Gibson,  Giddings, 
Gunter,  A.  H.  Hamilton,  Hardenbergh,  H  B. 
Harris,  Harrison,  Hartridge,  Hartzell,  Henry, 
Herbert,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  F.  Jones,  J.  T.  Jones, 
Kenna,  Kimmel,  Ligon,  Manning,  Mayham,  Mc- 
Kenzie,  Morrison,  Muldrow,  Muller,  T.  M.  Pat- 
terson, Phelps,  C.  N.  Potter,  Reagan,  J.  B. 
Reilly,  Riddle,  W.  M.  Robbins,  Robertson, 
Scales,  Schleicher,  Shelley,  Singleton,  W.  E. 
Smith,  Sparks,  Steele,  Sioann,  Throckmorton,  R. 
W.  Townshend,  Turner,  Turney,  R.  B.  Vance, 
Waddell,  Warner,  Whitihorne,  Wigginton.  A.  S. 
Williams,  J.  N.  Williams.  B.  A.  Willis,  F. 
Wood,  Yeates—S9. 

Nays— Messrs.  Aldrich,  Q.  A.  Bagley,  J.  H. 
Baker,  Ballou.  Banks,  Baamng,  Bland,  Boyd, 
Brentano,  Brewer,  Briggs,  T.  M.  Browne, 
Buckner,  H.  C.  Burchard,  Butler,  Cabell,  Camp. 
J,  M.  Campbell,  Cannon,  Carlisle.  Caswell, 
Claflin.  J.  B.  Clark,  Jr.,  R.  Clark,  Cobb,  Cole. 
Conger,  J.  D.  Cox.  Cutler,  Dennison,  Dunnell, 
Eames,  Ellsworth,  Errett,  FtlUm,  Fort,  Foster, 
Franklin,  Freeman.  Gardner,  Garfield.  Glover, 
Goode,  Hale,  Harmer,  J.  T.  Harris,  Haskell, 
Hatcher,  Hendee,  Henderson,  Hubbell,  Hun- 
gerford,  Hunter,  Hunton,  Ittner,  James.  J.  S. 
Jones.  Jorgensen.  Joyce,  Keifer,  Keightley, 
Kelley,  J.  H.  Ketcham.  Killinger,  Knapp, 
L^pham,  Lathrop,  Lindsey,  Lynde,  Marsh, 
McCook,  McKinley,  McMahon,  Mills.  Mitchell, 
Monroe,  Morse.  H.  S.  Neal,  Norcross,  O'Neill. 


Pftgo,  G.  W.  Patterson,  W.  A.  Phillips.  Pollard- , 
Pound.  Powers,  Price,  Priden>ore,  Rainey. 
Randolph,  Rea,  Reed,  A.  V.  Rice,  Ryan 
Sampson,  Sexton,  Shallenborger,  SinnicksoU' 
SmallH,  Southard,  Springer,  Stenp-:r,  Stewart,  i 
J.  W.  Stone, Thornburgh.  Tipton,  A.Towosend. 
Van  Vorhes.  W^ait,  Walsh,  H.  White.  M.  D- 
White.  A.  Williams,  R.  Williams,  B.  Wilson. 
Wright— 116. 

The  resolution  was  then  adopted  without  a 
division. 

What  the  mover  of  that  resolution  de- 
clared as  to  the  unseating  of  Hayes — It 
"depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  devel- 
opments." 

It  is  a  noteworthy  circumstance  that 
(see  Washington  Post,  Tilden  organ.  May 
23,  1878)  on  the  same  day  on  which  his 
resolution  was  adopted,  Representative 
Wilson,  aforesaid,  of  West  Virginia,  in 
reply  to  the  following  questions  put  to  him 
by  one  of  the  Tilden-Pos^'s  emissaries, 
made  the  succeeding  answer,  viz  : 

Tilden-Pos^  Emissary.  "What  will  be 
the  result  of  the  investigation  ?  Will  it 
end  in  unseating  Hayes?" 

Benjamin  Wilson.  "  That  depends  upon 
the  nature  of  the  developments. ' ' 

Meeting  of  the  National  Democratic  Com- 
mittee— A  very  full  attendance — The 
Committee  approves  Ihe  Potter  Investi- 
gation, and  declines  to  disavow  a  revo- 
lutionary intent. 

May,  22,  the  National  Democratic  Com- 
mittee met  at  the  Arlington  Hotel — pres- 
ent. Representative  Forney,  of  Ala.;  B. 
M.  Hughes,  of  Colorado;  Senator  Bar- 
num,  of  Conn.;  George  T.Barnes,  of  Ga.; 
William  C.  Gondy,  of  111.;  Austin  H. 
Brown,  of  Ind.;  M.  M.  Home,  of  Iowa; 
Isaac  E.  Eaton,  of  Kan.;  H.  D.  Mc- 
Henry,  of  Ky.;  R.  F.  Jonas,  of  La.;  Ed- 
mund Wilson,  of  Me.;  Outerbridge  Hor- 
sey, of  Md.;  Frederick  0.  Prince,  of 
Mass.;  Edward  Kanter,  of  Mich.;  Wil- 
liam Lochrane,  of  Minn.;  Ethal  Barks- 
dale,  of  Miss.;  John  G.  Priest,  of  Mo.; 
George  L.  Miller,  of  Neb.;  Robert  P. 
Keating,  of  Nev.;  R.  W.  Sulloway,  of  N. 
H.;  Representative  Ross,  of  N.  J  ;  Rep- 
resentative Hewitt,  of  N.  Y.;  Senator  Ran- 
som, of  N.  C;  John  G.  Thompson,  of 
Ohio;  James  H.  Reon,  of  S.  C;  William 
B.  Bale,  ofTenn.;  B.  B.  Smalley,  of  Vt.; 
Robert  A.  Coghill,  of  Va. ;  and  Alexander 
Campbell,  of  W.  Va.  There  were  only 
eight  or  nine  absentees. 

The  following  is  from  the  New  York 
Tribune  •• 

Washington,  May  23.— Action  has  been  taken 
by  the  National  Democratic  Committee  on  the 
subject  of  the  Potter  investigation,  which  is 
most  significant.  At  a  meeting  held  this  even- 
ing, almost  the  only  subject  of  discussion  was 
whether  the  committee  should  declare  that  it  is 
not  the  purpose  of  the  Democrats  to  attack  the 
title  of  President  Hay?s.  The  committee  decline 
to  declare  that  no  attack  is  intended.    There  was 


43 


no  division  of  opinion  however  on  a  resolution 
approving  the  investigation  in  itself,  which 
was  adopted  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  action  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives in  appointing  a  committee  fully 
empowered  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the 
frauds  alleged  to  have  been  committed  in  the 
late  Presidential  election,  to  the  end  that  the 
truth  may  be  made  known  to  the  people,  and 
the  repetition  of  such  frauds  be  prevented  in 
the  future  meets  the  approval  of  this  committee. 

Admissions  of  an  Influential  Member  of 
the  National  Democratic  Committee 
that  "the  Democratic  party  may  desire 
to  make  a  most  eflfective  attack  on  the 
title  of  the  President." 

One  of  the  most  influential  members  of  the 
D  emocratic  national  committee  remarked  to- 
day that  the  committee  could  not  afford  to  de- 
clare in  advance  of  the  investigation  itself 
what  course  the  party  should  pursue.  Nobody 
knows  what  the  committee  may  discover,  and 
it  may  he,  this  gentleman  said,  that  the  Demo- 
cratic party  may  desire  to  make  a  most  effective 
attack  on  the  title  of  the  President.  He  would 
not  say  that  he  thought  this  probable,  but  it 
certainly  was  possible. 

The  Democratic  national  committee,  there- 
fore, like  Democrats  in  Congress,  has  been  very 
careful  to  have  a  door  for  revolutionary  pro- 
ceeding's open  in  spite  of  all  the  individual 
members  of  the  party  may  have  to  say.  If  the 
investigation  fails,  they  will  assert  that  they 
never  intended  to  attack  the  title  of  Pre«ident 
Haj  es.  If  it  should  succeed  in  making  Demo- 
cratic partisans  believe  there  was  fraud,  the 
question  whether  revolutionary  proceedings 
shall  be  instituted  or  not  will  be  seriously  con- 
sidered. 


PART  XII. 

Potter's  open  letter  to  the  Rev. 
Blauk— His  fatal  admissions 
touching  all  that  hndL  been  de- 
nied—The revolutionary  in- 
tent laid  bare  by  his  own 
hand !— The  motives  at  the  bot- 
tom of  his  Investigation. 

The  following  letter  was   published  in 
jNew  York  papers,  May  28,  1878: 

Washington.  May  27, 1878. 
My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  letter  of  the  25th. 
*    *     You  ask  me  why  Mr.  Stephens  was 
howled"  down.  The  howling  was  by  the  news- 
papers.   *    *    * 

The  Hale  Amendmeut. 

You  ask  me  why  we  would  not  let  the  Hale 
amendment  be  attached  to  our  resolution?    Be- 
cause it  was  not  germane.    An   inquiry  into 
frauds  accomplished  and  which  changed  the 
electoral  vote  is  proper  to  prevent  their  repeti- 
tion, but  an  inquiry  into  mere  attempts  at  fraud 
which  resulted  in  nothing  is  not— first,  because 
we  understood  it  contained  recitals  to  which  we 
could  not  assent,  and  which  would  have  f  reed 
us  to  vote  against  our  own  resolution;  second, 
because  we  offered  Mr.  Hale  every  opportunity 
to  have  his  amendment  adopted  as  a  separate 
esolution,  that  it  was  not  so  offered  shows  it 
was  really  not  desired;  third,  because  its  incor- 
poration into  the  resolution  might  have  had  the 
effect  of  preventing  any  report  upon  the  reao- 
"ijlution.    As  it  is  the  committee  will  have  prob- 
iably  but  one  opportunity  to  report  in  this  Con- 
jlgress,  and  this  amendment  could,  if  added  to 


the  resolution,  be  made  to  prevent  the  report 
at  that  time,  and  thus  to  deprive  us  of  an  op- 
portunity to  report  at  all.  Just  as  we  got  ready 
to  report  we  should  be  liable  to  be  stopped  to 
take  further  testimony  in  some  of  the  added 
States  brought  forward  for  the  very  purpose  of 
preventing  a  report. 

Wliat  the  Tildenltes  are  driving  at— If 
fraud,  then  a  legal  remedy  hy  quo  war- 
ranto, if  such  remedy  exists— If  no  legal 
remedy  we  can  provide  one— "Not  the 
slightest  chance  of  revolution  or  dis- 
turbance" in  such  simple  moves !  Oh,  no ! 

But  you  suggest  that  to  raise  a  question  about 
the  last  Presidential  election  will  bring  on  dis- 
turbance or  revolution.  Not  at  all.  About 
that  "posseps  yourself  in  peace."  There  is  not 
the  slightest  chance  of  revolution  or  disturb- 
ance. When  the  whole  country  was  at  fever 
heat  on  the  subject  of  the  election  a  way  was 
found  to  establish  a  tribunal  to  pass  upon  the 
election,  and  every  one  submitted  to  that  de- 
termination. The  President's  title  rests  upon 
that.  If  now  it  should  appear  that  there  was 
fraud  which  palpably  affected  the  electoral 
vote,  and  which  the  Commission  did  not  notice, 
and  if  a  legal  remedy  exists  for  correcting  the 
error,  you  cannot  believe  that  such  a  proceed- 
ing under  the  law  could  lead  to  disturbance. 
If  there  be  no  such  legal  remedy  existing,  and 
Congress  should  hereafter,  by  the  approval  of 
the  President,  or  by  two-thirds  of  both  Houses 
without  that  approval,  provide  one,  why 
should  the  legal  d*  termination  thereafter  had 
any  more  produce  disturbance  than  the  decision 
of  the  Electoral  Commission  did? 

To  be  accused  of  "Mexicanizing"  the 
country  gi-ieves  liis  pure  and  lofty  spirit. 

It  is  exactly  because  this  is  not  Mexico,  and 
because  the  people  prefer  determining  ques- 
tions by  legal  methods,  and,  if  the  legal 
methods  have  not  been  provided,  to  invent 
legal  methods  of  determining  them,  and  sub- 
mit to  the  determination  thus  arrived  at — that 
this  country  cannot  be  Mexicanized. 

The  Powers  of  Congress  and  of  the  House. 

About  the  enumeration  of  electoral  votes 
there  could  be  no  question.  Eight  and  eight 
could  oniy  be  counted  as  sixteen.  Neither 
could  there  be  question  that  the  conceded  vote 
of  every  State  should  be  counted.  To  refuse 
that  would  be  revolutionary.  But  when  there 
were  two  6on a  ^c^e  returns  from  a  State,  each 
claiming  to  be  its  vote,  it  was  a  necessity  to 
decide  between  these  returns  before  either  re- 
turn could  be  counted.  This  determination 
could  only  be  made  by  the  Vice  President  who 
opened  the  returns,  or  by  the  Congress  in  whose 
presence  they  were  openpd.  I  thought  it  clear 
from  the  nature  of  our  Government,  from  the 
precedents,  and  from  the  opinions  so  many 
statesmen  had  expressed,  that  this  grave  power 
upon  which  the  last  election  did,  and  upon 
which  an^  election  might  depend,  could  only 
be  vested  in  Congress.  If  this  power  rested  in 
Congress  alone,  then  the  action  of  Congress  was 
necessary  before  a  choice  could  be  made  be- 
tween conflicting  returns,  and  so,  whenever  the 
two  houses  of  Congress  could  not  agree  on  their 
choice  of  a  return— one  house  preferring  one 
and  the  other  the  other— no  choice  could  be 
had,  and  the  vote  of  that  State  would  be  lost, 
not  because  one  house  had  any  greater  rights 
or  powers  than  the  other,  not  because  either  or 
both  houses  together,  had  the  right  to  reject 
arbitrarily,  or  to  refuse  to  reckon  any  certain 
electoral  vote,  but  only  because  in  case  of  bona 
fide  conflicting  returns  from  a  State,  each  claim- 
ing to  represent  the  electoral  vote,  it  was  a  ne- 
cessity to  choose  between  the  returns  before 


44 


%  he  vote  of  the  State  oould  be  oounted.  This 
was  the  view  at  last  established.  The  Electoral 
Coai mission  to  docide  the  disputed  votes  «rma 
created  by  Congress,  and  that  wa£  tbe  only  au- 
thority it  pjs^osied. 

Now,  it  saoiaod  to  me  ia  l87o  that  thi^  was  ao 
«lear,  and  th  it  the  leading  RepubUcm  Seoatory 
had  so  generally  coininicted  thoinsolvos  to  this 
▼raw  in  provioas  discudjions,  that  we  ought  to 
stand  upon  that  «rouad;  to  declare  th>it  w« 
would  abide  the  action  of  Congro-is, -would  ao- 
■cept  whoever  theC  mgross  found  t  >  be  olooted, 
«nd  that  if  th«  two  Houses  should  fail  to  agree 
as  to  which  of  the  returns  from  any  State  from 
which  there  were  huna  fide  duplicate  returns 
«hould  bo  received,  whereby  the  vote  of  the 
State  was  lost,  and  no  election  by  the  electors 
should  thus  result,  wo  would  then  abide  by  and 
unaintain  the  ohoioe  of  the  House  of  Rapre- 
«eiatativos,  the  body  authorized  by  the  Consti- 
tution to  elO'it  the  President  where  there  is  no 
«leotion  by  the  Eleetoral  College.  Instead  of 
doing  this  wo  drifted  along  until  at  last  the 
Republicans,  hewing  aJl  the  while  to  the  line. 
liaa«ot  us  where  we  were  ready  to  aocept  the 
JSlectorAl  Commission.  lIavi"^g  accepted  it.  of 
course  we  were  bound  to  accept  its  results,  but 
we  ought  at  least  be  Allowed  to  show— if  such 
was  the  fact— that  the  returns  upon  which  the 
Cooimiasion  passed  were  .procared  by  fraud. ; 

TSo  Danger  of  Wat  Ecactly. 

I  admit  that  the  Presidency  is  not  worth  a 
civil  war.  but  I  have  not  believed  there  was 
aay  djinger  of  such  a  war.  The  generation 
who  charged  up  the  heights  of  Fredericksburg, 
and  defended  the  works  at  Petersburg,  will  not 
SO  lightly  into  anothercivil  struggle.    We  must 

fet  years  further  on  before  that  will  happen, 
remember  after  the  election  remarking  to 
Cleneril  McDowell  that  a  great  mine  migbt  be 
«xnloded  by  a  spark,  to  which  he  answered, 
**Yes,  if  the  train  be  inflammable,  but  this  time 
th«  powder  is  wet."  He  was  right.  There  never 
■was  danger  of  a  civil  war. 

«  *A  Gigantic  Game  in  which  w^  held  the 
cards,"  (from  a  stocked  padk,)  a«d  the 
T&apublicans  hlaft'ed  us.  .J| 

Tne  whole  thing  was,  as  I  think,  a  gigantic 
same,  in  which  we  held  the  cards  and  the  Re- 
publicans bluffed  us.  Years  hence,  when  it  is 
remembered  that  we  needed  only  one  electoral 
vote,  and  that  your  side  could  not  get  on  with- 
out every  one  of  the  remaining  seventeen ;  that 
w^e  had  300,000  popular  ma.iority  ;  that  our  ma- 
orities  were  around  the  capital,  yours  in  New 
JEnglandi  the  Northwest,  and  the  Pacific  coast ; 
that  the  moral  sense  of  the  country  was  that 
■our  man  was  elected  and  yours  not;  that  you 
liAd  nothing  on  your  side  but  the  control  of  an 
4unny,  of  which  10,000  men  oould  not  be  got  to- 
C^Il^v.  the  Privates  mostly  in  sympathv  with 
nis,  and  commanded  by  officers  educated  to  un- 
•derstand  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the 
military  authority— officers  who.  excepting  the 
leaders.  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  could, 
J.  believe,  never  have  been  *renerally  used  to 
retist  the  declaratinn  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives—(I  am  told  this  will  appear  certainly 
whenever  the  secret  correspondence  of  the 
War  Bepartment  is  revealed)— and  that  you 
were  Laden  down  with  the  care  of  the  national 
<jT<adit,  the  first  shock  to  which  would  have  ar- 
>raared  against  you  all  the  moneyed  institutions 
3n  the  country ;  that  under  such  conditions,  I 
aay.  your  leaders  contrived  and  were  able  to 
caarr.^  through  the  capture  of  all  th-se  seven- 
teen votes,  will  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  great- 
est political  performances  of  history.  I  admit 
the  success  of  the  Republican  leaders.  Having 
laid  down  when  the  law  was  on  our  side  and 
when  we  ought  to  have  stood  up,  it  is  not  for 
us  now  to  stand  up  as  long  as  the  law  remains 
■aeaiiist  U8. 


What  «  Democratic  «*0ongi'e»8  may  do" 
an  the  result  of  the  Potter  Investlg«tion 
"would  be  elfccted  quietly,  coi'taialy 
and  witliout  violeiioe  or  •tllsturbance*' — 
Hence  we  do  not  contemplate  rovolu- 
ftlou,  etc ! 

Bnt  you  will  ask  whether,  if  there  be  no  dan- 
gerr  to  public  order  from  legal  proceedings, 
there  may  not  be  from  action  by  Congress,  No; 
no  more  than  'roiu  the  action  of  the  oourtK. 
Congress  represents  the  people  of  the  country, 
but  does  not  march  before  them.  It,  expresses 
bat  does  not  anticipate  their  will.  Should 
fraud  connected  with  the  electoral  oouot  ap- 

Eear  so  gross  and  palpable  that  you  and  all 
onorable  men  should  unite  in  denouncing  it, 
C'>ngrcss  might  then  take  action.  But  if  iSO, 
what  Congress  might  do,  being  the  result  of 
the  action  of  men  oi  all  parties  of  the  groat 
body  of  the  people,  not  of  a  party,  would  be  ef- 
fected quietly,  certainly,  and  without  violence 
or  disturbance.  In  saying  this  I  do  not  mean 
that  I  expect  the  investigation  to  be  followed 
by  either  legal  or  Congressional  action.  What, 
if  anything,  should  be  done  because  of  the  in- 
quiry, must  depend  upon  the  results  of  the  in- 
quiry. But  I  do  mean  that  whatever  action,  if 
any,  should  follow  the  investigation,  such  ac- 
tion can  neither  disturb  the  order  nor  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country.  This  cry  of  wolf,  when 
there  is  no  wolf,  this  effort  to  make  it  appear 
that  there  is  danger  to  peace  or  ord^r  from  this 
investigation,  is  a  Republican  pretence,  like 
the  "  bloody  shirt"  justification  of  carpet-bag 
government;  like  the  "  public  danger"  excuse, 
advanced  for  the  enforcement  of  Durell's  in- 
famous order  and  the  protection  of  the  R«?turn- 
ing  Board  by  bayonets;  like  the  cry  set  up  after 
the  election  to  prevent  any  agitation  and  to  se- 
cure submission.  We  must  have  a  very  sorry 
sort  of  popular  Grovernment  if  Congress  cannot 
even  inquire  into  frauds  in  the  choice  of  the 
Executive  without  endangering  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  country. 

More     Jesuitical     clap-traj*     and    ^eiHjrd- 
mouthing;. 

What,  then,  you  ask,  is  the  purpose  of  the 
investigation  ?  I  answer,  to  ascertain  the  facts, 
so  that  if  frauds  be  established  a  repetition  of 
such  frauds  may  iie  prevented;  and,  if  not,  to 
clear  up  the  general  belief  throughout  the 
country  that  there  "were  such  frauds.  It  is  true 
that  not  every  allegation  of  wrong  is  to  be  in- 
quired into  by  Congress,  but  when  a  large  por- 
tion, if  not  a  large  majority,  of  the  people  be- 
lieve that  the  last  Presidential  election  w  as  se- 
cured by  organized  fraud,  surely  an  inquiry  to 
ascertain  the  facts  ought  to  be  had. 

He  doesn't  believe  the  Democrats  were 
"bluffed"  after  all — He  "believes  we  were 
cheated." 

The  feeling  among  many  Republicans  after 
the  election  was  that  while  we  had  been  cheated 
in  the  returns,  we  had  bull-dozed  the  negroes 
so  badly  that  the  accounts  of  wrong  were  about 
equal.  This  belief  in  the  bull-dozing  of  the 
negroes  was  based  mainly  upon  the  fact  that 
in  certain  districts  of  the  South  which  usually 
gave  Republican  majorities  there  was  not  re- 
turned that  year  a  single  Republican  vote.  Now 
the  people  of  the  North  have  never  under- 
stood that  this  condition  of  things  was  fraudu- 
lently prepared  by  the  Republicans.  They 
ought  to  understand  that,  and,  beyond  that, 
they  ought  to  understand  that  there  never  was 
anything  so  dangerous  to  a  free  government  as 
a  returning  board.  A  delegation  of  persons 
vested  with  discretionary  power  to  revise  the 
votes  east  becomes  thus  the  body  that  elects. 
So  long  as  they  exercise  their  functions  under 


45 


the  protection  of  the  State  alone,  the  influence 
and  indignation  of  the  people  will  prevent  them 
from  any  flagrant  and  enormous  outrage.  The 
public  pressure  will  necessitate  some  excuse  for 
subverting  the  choice  of  the  people,  some  lim- 
itation upon  the  outrages  they  do  to  the  popular 
•wish.  Bat  separate  them  from  the  people  by 
a  cordon  of  Federal  troops,  under  the  pretence 
of  preserving  order,  surround  them  with  Fed- 
eral bayonets,  and  they  cease  to  be  responsible 
to  any  one  but  the  National  Administration 
which  protects  them.  There  need,  then,  be  no 
limit  to.  as  there  is  no  longer  any  check  upon 
their  abuses.  To  throw  out  the  votes  of  one 
side  and  keep  in  the  votes  of  the  other  without 
cause,  to  invent  pretexts  for  such  wrongs,  to 
accept  after  continued  protests  and  manufac- 
tured objections  as  color  for  their  action,  to 
permit  figures  to  be  altered,  returns  to  be 
forged,  frauds  to  be  perfected,  and  generally 
every  means  by  which  the  will  of  tiie  people 
may  be  frustrated  and  the  popular  voice  stifled, 
then  becomes  possible,  and  there  may  be  thus  a 
condition  of  things  absolutely  destructive  of 
free  government.  We  believe  that  it  was  by 
such  proceedings  we  were  cheated  out  of  the 
election. 

More  rei)etitioiis  gabble  to   "cover  up  liis 
tracks," 

TJuless  the  proceedings  be  exposed  the  out- 
rage will  be  repeated.  If  an  administration 
can  defraud  its  opponents  out  of  the 
results  of  an  election,  at  which  they  had 
seventeen  electoral  and  three  hundred  thou- 
sand popular  majority,  and  no  effort  is  made 
even  tg  inquire  into  the  wrong,  there  is  noth- 
ing the  next  time  to  prevent  the  same  admin- 
istration cheating  their  opponents,  even  though 
the  latter  have  forty  electoral  votes  and  a  mil- 
lion popular  majority.  And  this  will  go  on 
time  after  time,  until  the  outrage  become  in- 
tolerable. Let  us  rather,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  said, 
"have  a  jealous  care  of  tne  right  of  election  by 
the  people,  and  seek  a  safe  and  mild  corrective 
for  the  abuses  which,  where  no  peaceable 
remedy  is  provided,  are  lopped  by  the  sword  of 
revolution." 

The    cowardice  of  capital   fix>m    Pottei**s 
stand-point. 

It  has  been  said  that  there  was  nothing  more 
cowardlv  than  a  million  dollars  except  two  mil- 
lions. This  is'nature.  But  it  is  the  mistake  of 
capital  to  magnify  the  dangers  on  the  surface 
and  overlook  those  that  lie  below.  Just  now 
your  capitalists  are  troubling  themselves  about 
the  Commune,  and  oppose  the  reduction  of  the 
army,  which  they  would  have  kept  up  a,s  a  na- 
tional police.  And  yet,  in  no  great  country  of 
the  world,  is  there  so  little  danger  of  Com- 
munism as  in  this,  for  nowhere  is  property  so 
generally  distributed.  But  capitalists  stood  by 
supinely  when  the  array  was  used  to  protect 
Returning  Boards  in  stifling  the  votes  of  States 
and  frustrating  the  will  of  their  people,  and 
under  the  pretence  of  maintaining  order  to  sub- 
vert the  very  principles  of  free  government. 
Believe  me,  in  this  there  was  real  danger.  Gov- 
ernments are  based  upon  principle.  The  theory 
of  this  Government  is  that  the  people  of  the 
States  shall  choose  electors  for  themselves,  and 
that  by  the  aggregate  voice  of  such  electors 
that  the  National  Executive  shall  be  selected. 
To  let  the  party  in  power  interfere  by  force  of 
arms  to  protect  a  local  board  in  falsifying  the 
will  of  the  localities  is  to  subvert  the  theory  of 
this  Government,  and  lead  surely  to  its  destruc- 
tion. 

♦'Whatever  tlie  result  from  the  proposed 
investigation,"  it  will  be  done  peace- 
fully. 

Whatever  may  result  from  the  proposed  in- 
"vestigation,  you  may  be  sure  that  nothing  can 


result  that  will  disturb  either  your  flocks  or 
your  balances.  The  trouble  to  capital,  prop- 
erty, and  freedom  will  come,  not,  perhaps,  in 
your  time  or  mine,  but  come  at  last,  from 
refusing  to  inquire  into  frauds.  To  confront 
the  evil,  if  you  may  not  right  it,  is  to  prevent 
its  repetition.  To  shut  your  eyes  to  it  supinely 
is  to  jeopard,  and  not  to  preserve  the  future 
peace,  safety,  and  prosperity  of  the  country. 

Faithfully  yours,       Clarkson  N.  Potter. 

To  the  Rev. . 


PAET  XIU. 
Mr.  Stcplieiiis'  isecoud  letter  to 
Potter— He  believes  in  inves- 
tigation, but  not  "a  one-sided" 
one—And  lie  is  op-posed  to  in- 
vestigation that  bas  a  revolu- 
tiona .  J  intent. 

In  a  letter  dated  "  National  Hotel,  May 
28,"  Mr.  Stephens  replies  in  full  to  Mr. 
Potter's  atatemeut  that  Stephens  was  not 
working  with  his  party.  He  gives  his  note 
of  May  15  to  Mr.  Potter — mentions  that 
he  had  sent  similar  ones  to  Messrs.  Can- 
dlerand  Harris,  of  Georgia,  and  continues : 

*  *  *  From  these  notes  it  will  cleiirly  ap- 
pear with  wkom  I  first  conferred  and  the  opin- 
ion I  entertained  of  the  effect  of  proceedings 
then  coming  on  in  the  House  upon  the  Demo- 
cratic party  as  well  as  the  country.  I  looked 
upon  them  as  unwise  and  untimely  and  fraught 
with  mischief.  It  clearly  appears  from  these 
notes  that  I  was  not  in  favor  of  a  motion  to  de- 
feat the  investigation  of  fraud  of  any  kind.  It 
was  only  against  a  one-sided  investigation. 

I  was  also,  as  I  have  been  since  the  Presiden- 
tial contest  was  constitutionally  decided, 
against  any  investigation  with  a  view  to  im- 
peach or  asdail  the  title  of  the  present  incum- 
bent of  the  Executive  chair.  The  Democracy 
of  the  school  in  which  I  was  raised  was  planted 
upon  the  principles  of  law  and  order,  and  upon 
standing  by  them  as  constitutioually  pro- 
pounded. 

He  proves  that  Hale's  proposed  amend- 
ment Tvas  germane  to  the  Potter  reso- 
lution. 

Mr.  Potter's  reasons  for  refusing  Mr.  Hale's 
amendment  appear  to  me  to  be  singular  and 
most  untenable.  He  says  it  was  not  germane. 
Why  it  was  not  germane  I  cannot  see.  All 
frauds  it  would  seem  to  me  one  of  a  kindred 
character.  They  ar-s  all  the  same  class  of 
crimes  ;  belong  to  the  same  family,  and  differ 
only  in  character  and  degree.  If  a  fraudulent 
electoral  count  in  Florida  was  germane  to  a 
like  fraudulent  count  in  Louisiana,  wky  was 
not  a  like  fraudulent  count  in  Oregon  or  any 
other  State  equally  germane  to  the  provision  to 
investigate  frauds  ? 

He    knocks    another    plank   from   under 
Fitter's  ponderous  feet. 

Mr.  Potter  justifies  his  course  in  refusing  an 
investigation  into  the  frauds  alleged  in  Mr. 
Haiti's  amendment  because  he  said  he  under- 
stood it  contained  recitals  to  which  he  could 
not  assent,  and  which  would  have  forced  us  to 
vote  against  our  own  resolution.  This  seems  to 
me  agaiu  to  be  an  untenable  reason.  In  the 
first  place,  in  allowing  Mr.  Ha'e  to  offer  his 
amendment,  whatever  recitals  it  might  have 
bad  by  no  means  committed  the  House  to  the 


46 


truth  of  the  alleffations.     It  would  only  have 
allowed  him  to  make  them  good  if  he  could. 

Potter's  duplicity  made  plain, 

Mr.  Potter  insists  that  the  object  was  not  and 
is  not  to  atUiok  the  title  of  Mr.  Hayes.  If  so, 
then  why  did  he  not,  or  the  manaRers  whose  in  - 
Btructions  he  was  carrying  out,  allow  Mr.  Casey 
"Young's  amendments  to  sro  in,  which  distinctly 
stated,  with  a  purpo  e  of  informing  the  coun- 
try, that  the  object  was  not  to  disturb  the  title 
of  the  i)re8ent  executive  which  had  been  consti- 
tutionally settled  by  the  last  Congress. 

The  entire  proceeding  "most  unwise, 
most  unfortunate  and  most  mischievous'' 
—It  will  ''disturb  the  peace,  harmony 
and  qidet  of  the  country." 

But  I  have  no  time  to  say  more  at  present, 
except  to  add  that  I  look  upon  the  whole  of 
this  proceeding,  concocted  as  it  was,  conducted 
as  it  has  been,  as  most  unwise,  most  unlprtu- 
nate,  and  most  mischievous.  Its  effect  will  be 
to  disturb  the  peace,  harmony,  and  quiet  of  the 
country.  Neither  Mr.  Potter  nor  anybody  else 
can  prevent  it;  and  I  say  to  him  most  respect- 
fully that  nothing  short  of  an  immediate  gene- 
ral and  firm  concert  of  action  of  the  law  and 
order-abiding  people  of  all  parties,  Republi- 
cans and  Democrats,  throughout  the  Union  in 
reprobation  of  this  investigation  proceeding 
any  further  with  a  view  to  disturb  the  Presi- 
dential title,  such  as  announced  by  the  Penn- 
sylvania Democracy  in  their  convention  a  few 
days  ago,  can  arrest  the  most  fearful  conse- 
quences, Those  who  have,  though  innocently, 
sowed  the  wind  will  reap  the  whirlwind. 

"A  contemptible  farce  or  a  horrible 
tragedy"— Potter's  Jesuitical  whisper- 
ings, "delusive  and  guileful"  as  those  of 
Satan. 

My  own  opinion  is,  as  I  have  repeatedly 
said,  this  affair  will  prove  in  the  end  either  a 
contemptible  farce  or  a  horrible  tragedy. 
"Whether  it  will  lead  to  the  Mexicanization  of 
our  Federal  Republic  the  result  must  show. 
But  I  say,  as  I  said  on  another  recent  occa- 
sion, that  all  softwords  instilling  in  the  mind 
of  the  people  of  this  country  the  idea  that  Mr. 
Hayes  can  be  peaceably  unseated  by  Congress 
are  as  delusive  and  as  guileful  as  the  whisper- 
ings of  the  great  arch  fiend  in  the  shape  of  a 
toad  in  the  ear  of  Eve,  from  which  sprung  all 
our  woes. 

Very  respectfully. 

ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS. 


PART  XIV. 

Tlie  Barcbard  resolution— a 
Bomb  Shell— Panic  and  rout- 
Graphic  description  of  the 
scene— The  Democrats  forced 
to  "eat  crow"— Condemned  out 
of  their  own  mouths. 

June  14,  1878,  Mr.  H.  C.  Burchard, 
Republican,  threw  a  bombshell  into  the 
Tilden  House,  which  exploded  with  such 
force  as  to  disintegrate,  for  the  mo- 
ment the  combined  forces  of  the  enemy, 
bringing  humiliation  and  digrace  for  the 
time  being  on  the  Potter-Tilden  revolu- 
tionary movement.  The  refusal  of  the 
Democrats  to   accept  the  Casey  Young 


resolution  offered  in  caucus,  the  refusal 
of  the  National  Democratic  Committee 
to  make  any  declaration  on  the  subject 
to  quiet  the  growing  apprehensions,  the 
prophetic  utterances  of  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  and  a  few  other  conservative 
Democrats,  the  admissions  of  Potter's 
open  letter,  the  boastings  of  the  Demo- 
cratic press  alarmed  the  country  to  such 
extent  that,  as  the  New  York  Tribune' 
remarked,  "the  Democrats  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  have  been  forced 
against  their  will  to  make  the  declaration 
they  did  to-day"  in  voting  for  the  Burch- 
ard and  the  Judiciary  Committee's  resolu- 
tions. They  had  uniformly  refused  to 
put  themselves  on  record  until  Burchard' s 
resolution  forced  them  to  "toe  the 
mark."     We  take  from  the  Tribune  : 

Graphic  description  of  Burcliard's  mas- 
terly strategy — Summer  allies  and  "all 
serene." 

Washington,  June  14.— It  was  neatly  done, 
and  evidently  took  the  majority  of  Republicans 
as  much  by  surprise  as  it  did  the  Democrats. 
There  had  been  a  great  deal  of  noise  and  con- 
fusion, and  the  House  had  wasted  a  half  hour 
in  deciding  upon  a  time  for  the  considsration 
of  some  of  the  important  measures  which  have 
not  yet  received  final  action.  The  Speaker's 
rulings  were  rapid  and  arbitrary,  without  be- 
ing offensive  or  unjust,  and  by  common  consent 
things  were  taken  for  granted  which  at  any 
earlier  date  would  have  been  met  with  a  score 
of  objections.  The  House  was  working  with 
one  mind  for  a  final  adjournment  on  Monday, 
while  each  member  was  endeavoring  to  gat  his 
own  pet  measure  into  a  position  to  command 
a  few  of  the  fleeting  moments  which  yet  re- 
mained. 

Mr.  Burchard's  face  wore  an  expression  as 
innocent  as  that  of  Mary's  little  lamb.  He 
"moved  to  suspend  the  rules  and—" 

Mr.  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  also  "moved  to  sus- 
pend the  rules  and—" 

Mr.  Fernando  Wood  rose  to  a  parliamentary 
inquiry,  and  took  a  mild  exception  to  some  of 
the  rulings,  which  gave  to  certain  measures  pre- 
cedence over  others,  which  he  asserted  were 
equally  important. 

Mr.  Burchard  claimed  the  floor  by  virtue  of 
the  position  his  name  occupied  upon  the  list  of 
those  who  had  given  notice  that  they  would 
move  a  suspension  of  the  rules   for  various  , 
purposes. 

The  Speaker  said  that  he  would  recognize  the 
gentleman  from  Illinois  as  soon  as  he  could  dis- 
pose of  the  parliamentary  inquiries.  Mr.  Burch- 
ard smiled.  General  Garfield,  who  sat  beside 
him,  also  smiled  very  contentedly.  Five  min- 
utes later  the  "  gentleman  from  Illinois  "  was 
recognized.  He  moved  to  suspend  the  rules 
and  pass  the  following  resolution,"  which  he 
sent  to  the  clerk's  desk  to  be  read : 

Burchard's  resolution— The  terrific  thun- 
der clap! 

Whereas,  At  the  joint  meeting  of  the  two 
Houses  of  the  XLlVth  CongresS;  convened 
pursuant  to  law  and  the  Constitution,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  and  counting  the  votes 
for  President  and  Vice  President  for  the  term 
commencing  March  4,  1877,  on  counting  the 
votes  Rutherford  B.Hayes  was  declared  elected 
President  and  William  A.  Wheeler  was  declared 
elected  Vice  President  for  such  term.  There- 
fore, 


47 


Resolved,  That  no  subsequent  Congress,  and 
neither  House  has  jurisdiction  to  revise  the  ac- 
tion at  such  joint  meeting,  and  any  attempt  by 
either  House  to  annul  or  disregard  such  action 
or  the  title  to  ofi&ce  arising  therefrom  would  be 
revolutionary  and  is  disapproved  by  this 
House.  m 

Profound  Silence— The  Democrats    Oasp- 
ing  for  Breath. 

Silence  most  profound  fell  upon  the  House. 
Most  of  the  Democratic  leaders  were  absent. 
Messrs.  Atkins  and  Durham  had  just  been  sent 
off  on  a  conference  committee.  Messrs.  Potter, 
Blackburn,  S '^ringer,  and  the  other  investiga- 
tors were  busy  in  their  committee  room. 
Some  Democrat  recovered  himself  sufficiently 
to  ask  that  the  resolution  be  read  again,  and 
meanwhile  the  absentees  were  sent  for.  Mr. 
Townshend,  of  Illinois,  was  the  first  to  get  en- 
tire possession  of  himself.  He  ask«d  if  it 
would  be  in  order  to  strike  out  the  last  section; 
then  if  the  resolution  could  be  referred  to  the 
Judiciary  Committee.  He  was  told  by  the 
Speaker  in  reply  that  on  a  motion  to  suspend 
the  rules  neither  proposition  wes  in  order ;  and 
some  Republican  added:  "You  can  vote  it 
down,"  which  was  a  privilege  which  Mr.  Towns- 
hend and  his  Democratic  agsociates  were  at 
the  moment  neither  prepared  to  reject  or  ac- 
cept. 

The  Republican  hurrah!— The   yeas  and 
nays  demanded. 

By  the  rules  of  the  House  no  debate  was  in 
order,  and  nothing  remained  to  be  done  except 
to  put  the  question  to  the  House.  The  hearty 
•'  aye"  which  came  up  when  this  was  done  was 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  Republican  side, 
while  the  negative  vote  was  feeble,  and  be- 
trayed the  indecision  and  demoralization 
which  had  seized  the  Democrats.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present  voted  in  favor  of  the  resolution :  but 
the  object  of  the  mover  being  to  get  members 
on  record  either  for  or  against  the  projects  of 
the  revolutionists,  Mr.  Burchard,  without 
waiting  for  the  decision  of  the  Chair,  called  for 
the  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  Clerk  began  to  call 
the  roll. 

The  Democratic  Speaker  stops  the  roll- 
call  to  give  the  Tilden-Kevolutionists 
time  to  rally— Caucusing  as  to  the  best 
"Policy." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Atkins  arrived,  somewhat 
out  of  breath,  and  asked  that  the  resolution  be 
read  again.  Although  the  roll-call  was  in 
progress,  the  Speaker  directed  the  Clerk  to 
read  the  resolution  a  third  time.  Most  of  the 
Democratic  absentees  had  by  this  time  gath- 
ered in.  An  earnest  and  excited  caucussing 
was  going  on  on  their  side  of  the  Hall,  which 
continued  during  the  reading  of  the  resolution 
and  the  calling  of  the  roll  which  followed.  A 
half-dozen  Democrats,  having  the  courage  of 
their  convictions,  responded  to  their  names 
with  a  hearty  "  aye,"  and  as  many  more  voted 
"  no."  The  great  majority  of  them,  however, 
made  no  response  during  the  first  call  of  the 
roll. 

Great  excitement  and  noise — More  time 
given  for  the  determination  of  "Policy" 

— The  Democrats  jeered Their  panic 

and  rout. 

The  scene  was  very  exciting  and  noisy.  Two 
or  three  times  the  call  was  delayed  or  sus- 
pended, ostensibly  on  account  of  the  disorder, 
but  really  to  give  the  Democrats  time  to  rally 
and  decide  wbat  to  do.  Two  or  three  motions 
were  made  in  a  spirit  of  derision,  by  Republi- 


cans, that  the  House  take  a  recess  to  allow  the 
Democrats  time  to  finish  the  caucus.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  a  quorum  had  voted  during 
the  first  call,  but  when  it  was  finished  seme  fif- 
teen or  twenty  Democrats  arose,  and  as  they 
were  recognized,  one  by  one  recorded  them- 
selves in  the  affirmative.  The  movement  gath- 
ered force,  and  before  the  vote  was  announced 
nearly  every  member  on  the  floor  had  voted. 
The  resolution  was  carried  by  the  astonishing 
vote  of  215  in  the  affirmative  to  21  in  the  nega- 
tive. 

Two  "Specimen  Bricks" — One  represent- 
ing the  "policy,  Me  Boy"  Tildenites — 
The  other  the  out-and-out  Red  Tilden 
Re  volutioni  sts . 

Perhaps  the  most  crushed  individual  in  the 
hall  was  Mr.  Pinley,  of  Ohio,  who  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Springer,  of  Illinois,  was  perhaps  the 
most  active  of  the  original  revolutionists.  In 
common  with  the  majority  of  his  party,  he 
dodged  on  the  first  call  of  the  roll.  When  his 
party  associates  began  to  give  way,  and  record 
themselves  in  favor  of  the  resolution,  Mr.  Fin- 
ley  walked  down  to  the  front,  and  being  recog- 
nized, filed  an  emphatic  and  spiteful "  no." 
Then,  with  a  shrug  of  contempt,  he  turned  his 
back  and  walked  up  the  aisle  again,  the  bald 
spot  on  the  back  of  his  head,  about  the  size  of  a 
trade  dollar,  seeming  to  glisten  with  the  rage 
which  filled  him.  "When,  however,  the  move- 
ment became  a  rout,  Mr.  Finley  again  arose, 
and,  amid  the  cheers  and  jeers  of  the  Republi- 
cans, made  a  request  to  change  his  vote,  and 
piping  out  a  feeble  "  aye,"  he  retired  to  proba- 
ble oblivion.  Mr.  Springer  stood  his  ground, 
and  voted  an  emphatic  and  ostentatious  "no," 
almost  the  last  one  recorded.  He  was  heartily 
and  unanimously  congratulated  by  Mr.  Cook, 
of  Georgia. 

The  vote  on  the  Burchard  resolution  by 
vrhich  the  Revolutionary  House,  driven 
by  fear,  condemned  its  ovrn  revolu- 
tionary purposes. 

The  vote  upon  the  Burchard  resolution 
was  215  yeas,  21  nays — 56  not  voting. 
The  21  nays  were  all  red  hot  Tilden  revo- 
lutionists and  among  those  not  voting, 
whether  present  or  not,  were  40  more 
Tilden  Democrats.  In  detail  it  was  as 
follows : 

Yeas — Messrs.  Aiken,  Aldrich, Atkins,  Bacon, 
G.  A.  hagley,  J.  H.  Baker.  W.  H.  Baker,  Banks 
Banninff,  Ba,yne,  Beehe,  H.  P.  Bell,  Bicknell, 
Bisbee.  Blair.  Blount.  Bouck,  Boyd,  Brentano, 
Brewer,  Bridges,  BrigKS,  Bright,  Brogden.  T. 
M.  Browne.  Bundy,  H,  C.  Burchard,  Bur- 
dick,  Cabell,  J.  W.  Caldioell,  W.  P.  Caldwell, 
Calkins,  J.  M.  Campbel',  Cannon,  Carlisle, 
Caswell,  Chalmers,  Chittenden,  Claflin,  J.  B. 
Clark,  jr.,  R.  Clark,  J.  B.  Clarke,  Clymer,  Cobb, 
Cole,  Conger,  Covert,  J.  D.  Cox,  Crapo,  Cra- 
vens, Crittenden,  Culberson,  Cummings,  Cutler, 
Danford,  H.  Davis,  J.  J.  Davis,  Dean,  Deering, 
Denison,  Dibrell,  Dickey, Dou0las,J)u.nneU,Dur- 
y^am,Dwight,  Bames.  Eden,  Ellsworth,  Brrett,  I. 
N.  Evans,  J.  L.  Evans,  J,  H.  Evins,  Ewing, 
Fel*on,  E.  B.  Finley,  Forney,  Foster,  Franklin, 
Freeman.  Gardner,  Girfield,  Garth,  Cause, 
Gibson,  Gtddif>gs,  Ooode,  Hanna,  Harmer.  B. 
W.  Harris,  JET.  R.  Harris,  Harrison,  Hart, 
Hartzell,  Haskell,  Hatcher,  P.  C.  Hayes,  Hen- 
dee,  Henderson,  Herbert,  Q.  W.  Hewitt,  His- 
cock.  House,  Hubbell,  H  L.  Humphrey,  Hun- 
gerford.  Hunter,  Hunton,  Ittner,  James,  F. 
Jones,  J.  T.  Jones,  J.  S,  Jones,  Jorgeisen 
Keifer,  Keightley.  Kelley,  Kenna,  J.  H' 
Ketcham,  Killinger,  G.  M.  Landers,  Lapham* 
Lathrop.  Ligon,  Lindsey,  Lookwood,  Mackey* 


48 


M'tiih.  Marftb.  McCook.  McGowaii,  McK<nz>e, 
MoKinle.v.  L.  S.  Metcalfe,  J/ui*.  MUohell, 
Monroe,  yionfnt.  M.jir%^oii>  MuiMe.Mullttr,  H.  3. 
NeiU.  Norcrotig,  Oliver.  O'Neil,  Ovorton,  Page, 
G.  W.  Patterson.  T.  M,  Pixtun-^^uu,  PedJie.  W. 
A.  PhiUir8.  PoIlArd.  Pound.  Price.  Pu«h. 
Bftincy,  Randolph,  ViVa,  Iirut,nn,  lloed,  J.  D. 
Be.in^„,  W.  W.  Rice.  Ii!<lM^,  W.  M.  UuhbiuH, 
Rt,bert-,  G.  D.RobiBFon,  Ryan,  Sampeon.  Saiip, 
ylvr.  Scales,  Sexton,  Shallenbe.rgor.  Shil/,iu. 


innickson.  Smalla,  A.  H.  &mitli,*S>n»/.«,SraLrin 
Rerlt,  SUitgcr,  Sttphem.  Stewart.  J.  W.  Stone, 
J.  C.  Stone.  Strait,  J.  M.  Thompson,  Throih- 
mtrton,  A.  Towneen*.  M,  I.  Towflsend,  It,  W. 
T'iWtM€H(i.  'Jhulieo:  l\trney,  B.  IL  Vomc, 
Vetdfj-,  Waddell,  Wait.  W.  Ward.  Watson, 
Welch.  H.  White.  M.  D.  White,  Whvthonie,  A. 
S.  Williamg,  A.  Williams.  C.  ft.  WiHinms,  R. 
Williams.  A.  S.  WiZ/ix,  IL  A.  WUUh,  Willits.B. 
Wilson,  F.  Wood,  Wren.  Yeateti,  rc.ujtr-215. 

Nj\YS — Mesars.  Blackburn,  Jiliuft,  Boone, 
Bruffff.  Cook:  S.  S.  Cor,  Kllh,  Fuller,  A.  H. 
Hamilton,  Hardcnheygh,  Htnkle,  Henry,  A.  S. 
Hewitt,  Mayham,  Phelpn,  Pridcmore,  Robertson, 
W.  E.  Snnth,  Southard,  Spriii{/er,  Wvmcr—2l. 

Not  Voti^'g — Messrs.  Acklin,  Ballou,  Bene' 
diet.  Blond,  Bnekner,  Butler.  Cain,  Cnmf, 
Candler.  A.  At.  Clnrk,  Collinit,  Jhividfton,  Eick- 
hiff.  Elam,  Fort,  Frye,  Gloves;  Guntir,  Hide, 
J.  T.  Harris,  Harti-idp".  Hazelton,  Hooker, 
Joyce.  Kimmtl,  Kr,arp,  Knott,  Jjoring, Zuttrell, 
Lynde,  Mannina,  Martin,  McMahon,  Monvy, 
Muldrow,  C,  JV.  Potitr.  Powers,  Qvinrr,  A 
V.  Bice,  M.  S.  Robinson,  M.  Boss,  Schleicher, 
Singleton,  SHemons,  Swa--n,  Thomburgh,  Tipton, 
Tamer,  Van  Vorhes,  G.  C.  Wolkcr,  Walsh, 
Wigginton,  J.  William'*,  J.  N.  Williama, 
Wright-55. 

PART  XV. 
The    next)    Democratic     iMOTe— 
Tlurowing  Sawdiis^t  iu  the  £yes 
of  the  People. 

The  House  Democrats  having  been 
completely  outgeneraled,  how  to  place 
themselzes  in  a  better  attitude  before  the 
people  was  now  the  question.  The  great 
mass  of  them  would  be  revoluticnists  if 
they  dared.  Already  they  had  discovered 
by  the  great  wave  of  public  opinion  which 
had  recently  set  in  upon  them  that  the 
times  were  not  yet  ripe  for  revolution, 
that  all  their  carefully  laid  plans  for  future 
action,  to  succeed  must  be  covered  up ; 
that  mere  silence  on  the  subject  would  not 
longer  do:  that  they  must  make  an  ex- 
plicit declaration  even  though  with  the 
full  intention  of  violating  hereafter  any 
present  pledge.  Under  the  Jesuitical 
lead  of  Potter  they  had  learned  the  Jesuit- 
ical rule  that '  'the  end  justifies  the  means. ' ' 
Accordingly  it  had  already  been  deter- 
mined that  the  Judiciary  Committee  should 
be  allowed  to  report  against  the  Kimmel 
bill,  which  on  the  15th  of  April  had  been  | 
introduced  and  referred  to  it;  and  in  the 
sad  straits  to  which  they  had  just  been 
brought  by  the  Burchard  resolution,  it 
was  determined  by  the  Democratic  leaders 
that  the  report  must  be  made  and  acted 
on  at  once.  Thus  they  might  yet  succeed 
in  making  the  people  believe — until  after 
the  fall  elections — that  their  purpose  was 


not  to  turn  Hayes  out  and  put  Tilden  in. 
The  report  was  therefore  at  once  (June 
14)  made  by  Mr.  Hartridge,  Democrat. 

The   v«)to   by  Mliicli   this  lueve  exproMHioii 
of  this  House's  "opinion"  was  recorded. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  ac- 
companying the  report  the  vote  was  235 
yeas  to  14  "red-hot"  revolutionary  Tilden 
navs — not  voting  42,  of  whom  28  were 
Tilden  Democrats. 


PART  XVI. 

The  Work  of  the  Potter  Commit- 
tee —  Impeaehiueiit  ot  Hayes 
an«l  Wheeler  Talked  of— How 
the  Thiitg  in  to  he  D«gie— Hayeis 
Out  and  Either  Tilden  or  Thur- 
man  to  Go  In— I>eiHoer»tic  Au- 
thoritiesi  for  it. 

While  the  great  mass  of  people  of  this 
country  who  have  followed  the  testimony 
given  before  the  Potter  Investigation  Com- 
mittee, undoubtedly  consider  that  it  has 
absolutely  failed  of  its  main  purposes  and 
that  its  proceedings  have  become  almost 
farcical,  there  are  unquestionably  a  large 
number  of  dyed-in  the-wool  Democrats 
who  otherwise  believe  that  they  have 
proved  their  case,  and  exclaim  with  their 
Demociatic  organ,  the  Washington  Post, 
of  August  10,  1878,  that : 

"The  Potter  committee  has  chrystalized.  alle- 
gations into  accepted  history." 

The  Democratic  leaders  will  certainly 
pretend  to  believe  the  charges  proven,  no 
matter  how  absurd  the  pretense  may  be. 
And  so  believing  or  pretending  to  be- 
lieve, they  will  demand  action  of  some 
sort  against  President  Hayes  and  Vice 
President  Wheeler  in  the  event  of  the 
next  House  being  Democratic.  What  ac- 
tion is  contemplated  is  getting  clearer.  It 
is  to  impeach  both  President  Hayes  and 
Vice  President  Wheeler;  to  declare  by  con- 
current resolution  of  both  Democratic 
Bouses  that  t  be  mere  act  of  presenting  arti- 
cles of  impeachment  in  this  case  at  any  rate 
suspends  the  impeached  persons  from  offi- 
cial duty,  and  makes  a  vacauc.v;  to  elect 
Thurman  President  of  the  Senate,  if  Til- 
den took  the  oath  at  the  right  time — as 
many  believe  be  did,  and  the  statement 
to  that  effect  has  never  been  denied  by 
him — to  induct  him  into  the  Presidency; 
and  if  he  did  not,  then  the  "vacancy"  to 
be  filled  by  Thurman.  That  some  such 
movements  are  in  contemplation  is  evident 
from  what  leaks  out  every  now  and  then 
from  persons  supposed  to  know  the  hid- 
den purposes  of  the  revolutionists. 


49 


Some  of  the  active  measures  proposed  for 
pvittinj^  Hayes  out  and  Tilden  in — Tlie 
Impeacliinent   plan. 

Thus  we  gather  something  of  this  sort 
from   the  following  dispatch  in  the  New 


Washington,  June  1-L— A  fact  which  may 
throw  some  light  uport  the  real  purposes  ac- 
tuating those  who  engineered  the  Potter  reso- 
lution through  the  House  has  just  come  out 
here.  It  seems,  according  to  excellent  Demo- 
cratic authority,  that  several  months  before 
the  Potter  resolution  was  passed,  Mr.  Manton 
Marble  and  General  Burlow  approached  lead- 
ing Democratic  members  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives and  men  prominent  in  the  party, 
and  urged  them  to  begin  active  measures  for 
ousting  President  Hayes  as  soon  as  the  Demo- 
crats should  secure  control  of  both  Houses  of 
Congress.  One  reason  which  they  urged  was 
that  it  would  be  a  good  pieceof  party  strategy, 
because  if  Governor  Tiiden  was  given  two 
years  of  the  present  Presidential  term  his  am- 
bition would  be  satisfied,  and  he  could  easily 
be  put  out  of  the  way  for  1880.  The  consulta- 
tions of  these  gentlemen,  who  were  known  to 
be  working  in  the  interest  of  Governor  Tilden, 
all  indicate  that  the  main  purpose  of  the  pres- 
ent movement,  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were 
responsible  for  it,  has  been  to  remove  President 
Hayes  from  the  oSioe  he  now  holds.  Now  that 
public  opinion  has  driven  the  Democrats  to 
declare  that  the  President's  title  cannot  be  at- 
tacked, those  who  formerly  talked  of  putting 
him  out  through  suits  in  the  Supreu^e  Court, 
or  by  joint  resolution  recognizing  Governor 
Tilden.  are  almost  all  talking  of  impeachment 
instead. 

Another  Plan   for   Voting   Hayes  out  and 
Thiirman  in. 

The  Washington  Capital,  Aug.  11,  1878, 
a  paper  supposed  to  have  special  sources 
of  information,  as  to  the  designs  of  the 
Democratic  revolutionary  leaders,  says 
that  ''after  the  4rh  of  March  Allen  G. 
Thurman  will  be  President  of  the  Senate, 
and  prepared  to  fill  one  of  the  two  vacan- 
cies '  which  certain  persons '  are  busy 
demonstrating  to  the  people  to  exist  in 
the  President's  and  Vice  President's  of- 
fices. ^  This  will  not  elect  Mr.  Tilden — he 
not  being  eligible  through  a  strange  defect 
in  the  law  which  makes  itnecessary  for  the 
President-elect  to  be  sworn  in  at  a  certain 
date  after  being  elected.  This  is  in  part 
the  scheme  for  a  strong  Government,  con- 
ceived and  organized  by  that  form  of  cap- 
ital which  net-works  our  land  in  the  shape 
of  railroads,  and  has  for  its  managers  the 
boldest,  most  unscrupulous  and  efficient 
knaves  of  all  that  class  of  fiuaiicial  schemers 


that  grow  rich  on  other  men's  earnings. 
It  was  their  intent  to  seat  one  of  their 
number— Mr.  Tilden  himself— in  the  Pres- 
idency, but  they  will  accept  Allen  G.  Thur- 
man. To  them  the  smoke  that  indicates 
the  fire  upon  the  plains  is  not  distant.  The 
danger  is  at  hand,  and  they  seek  to  fight 
fire  with  fire.  *  -h-  *  Xhis  is  neither 
impeachable  nor  revolutionary,  and  is  far 
stronger  and  more  efficient  than  any  mili- 
tary Wall  street  thieving  organization, 
with  Grant  as  its  figure  head,  that  will 
come  in  just  thirty  days  too  late  to  be  of 
use. ' ' 

Further  Proof  of  their  Present  Purposes — 
Springer^'s  Declarations. 

That  the  Democratic  leaders  are  bent 
upon  declaring  the  Potter  investigation 
allegations  proven  ;  that  they  intend  to 
take  action ;  that  the  action  which  they 
propose  to  take  is  in  the  line  of  impeach- 
ment ;  and  that  they  intend  by  the  mere 
action  of  a  Democratic  majority  of  both 
Houses — should  they  then  control  both 
Houses — to  declare  the  offices  of  both  the 
President  and  Vice  President  vacant  upon 
the  presentation  of  the  articles  of  impeach- 
ment to  the  Senate  is  rendered  as  clear  as 
daylight  by  the  recent  statement  of  Spring- 
er, Democratic  member  of  the  Potter  com- 
mittee, in  an  interview  with  the  reporter 
of  a  Western  paper,  wherein  he  is  repre- 
sented as  saying  that  enough  had  already 
been  brought  out  by  that  committee  to  war- 
rant the  impeachment  of  President  Hayes, 
and  there  will  be  no  trouble  on  that  score, 
as  the  Democrats  will  have  a  majority  of 
the  Senate  after  the  4th  of  March  next." 

And  the  following  telegram  in  a  New 
York  paper  of  August  5,  1878,  is  confir- 
noatory  not  only  of  Springer's  conclu- 
sions, but  as  to  those  of  others  of  his  Dem- 
ocratic friends  on  the  Potter  committee  : 

"Washington,  August  4.~Mr.  Springer,  of 
the  Potter  committee,  talks  very  freely  of  *'  the 
case,"  as  he  calls  it,  which  to  his  mind  has  al- 
ready been  established  by  the  Potter  com- 
mittee. He  regards  it  as  one  which  will  not 
only  justify  impeachment,  but  which  demands 
it.  He  thinks  the  Wormley  Hotel  conference, 
in  connection  with  the  subsequent  action  of  the 
Louisiana  commission,  quite  sufficient  to  sus- 
tain articles  of  impeachment,  and  he  fully  ex- 
pects the  House  to  present  them  at  an  early 
day.  Such  talk  doubtless  reflects  the  views  of 
several  members  of  the  Potter  oommittee. 


CHAPTER  V. 
A  History  of  Democratic  Election  Frauds. 


PAKT  I. 

*'€oanting  in"— A  Democratic 
iuTcution,  and  peculiarly  a 
Democratic  practice— "Count- 
ing in"  of  James  K.  Polli  as 
President  in  1844— of  James 
Bucliauan  in  1857— Tlie  Disas- 
trous Consequences  to  the  Na- 
tion—Tlie  attempted  "count- 
ing" in  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  in 
1876— A  brief  review  of  tlie  im- 
mense Democratic  Frauds  in 
tlie  Campaigns  of  1844-'57  com- 
pared witli  tliose  of  1876. 

In  1844,  ia  the  Presidential  campaign 
of  that  year,  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennes- 
see, was  notoriously  "  counted  into"  the 
Presidency  over  Henry  Clay,  of  Ken- 
tucky, who  had  been  elected  President 
fairly  by  the  voice  of  the  American  peo- 
ple. 

Who  was  Henry  Clay?  Who  James 
K.  Polk  ?  Who  the  arch  conspirators  by 
whom  Clay  was  robbed  of  the  Presi- 
dency— by  whom  the  American  people 
were  cheated  of  their  choice  as  Chief 
Magistrate ;  and  what  the  agencies  or 
means  by  which  a  result  so  disastrous  to 
the  nation  was  accomplished?  What  the 
motives  or  ends  which  iaflueoced  the 
agencies  for  a  result  so  lamentable  ? 

Just  now,  in  presence  of  Tildeo's  and 
the  Democratic  eflForts  to  seize  the  Presi- 
dency by  Mexicanizing  the  Republic — 
by  subverting  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws — these  inquiries  are  pertinent  and 
pregnant  ones.  We  will  answer  them  as 
briefly  as  possible. 

The  "Great  Commoner,"  Henry  Clay,  who 
would  "rather  be  right  than  be  Presi- 
dent!"—His  Unknown  Democrat  Oppo- 
nent, James  K.  Polk. 

For  nearly  a  half  century,  in  1844,  from 
1797,  when  Kentucky  was  framing  a  new 
State  constitution,  Henry  Clay  had  been 
active  in  the  service  of  his  country.  A 
Senator  of  the  United  States  in  1806, 
when  only  twenty- nine  years  old,  and  dis- 


tinguished even  at  that  early  age  for  emi- 
nent ability  and  eloquence ;  unrivaled 
subsequently  as  the  Speaker  and  leader 
of  the  House ;  equally  brilliant  in  the 
Senate  and  Cabinet,  in  war  as  in  peace, 
as  a  statesman,  orator  and  diplomat  ; 
pre-eminent  for  his  chivalrous  courage 
and  lofty  patriotism,  and  probably  the 
only  man  of  his  time  who  could,  without 
personal  ridicule,  have  uttered  his  cele- 
brated apothegm,  "7  would  rather  be 
right  than  President! " 

Such  was  Henry  Clay,  "The  Gre>t 
Commoner,"  the  Whig  candidate  for 
President  in  1844.  While  his  opponent, 
Polk,  was  so  little  known,  his  services 
to  the  nation  of  such  little  consequence, 
that  upon  his  nomination  by  the  Democ- 
racy the  cry  went  throughout  the  Repub- 


The  vote  by  which  Clay  was  rightfully 
elected  and  entitled  to  the  Presidency— 
The  villainous  Democratic  frauds  by 
which  he  was  "counted  out," 

Henry  Clay  was  the  choice  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  for  President,  and  a  decided 
majority  of  the  votes  actually  cast  was 
thrown  for  him.  He  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent by  the  voice  of  his  countrymen,  and 
under  the  Constitution  and  laws — by  all 
the  rules  of  right — was  entitled  to  the 
Presidency.  None  now  doubts  that.  As 
a  matter  of  history  it  is  notorious.  Never- 
theless, in  the  House,  in  1846,  the  elec- 
toral vote  counted  was :  For  Polk,  170 ; 
for  Clay,  105;  while  Polk's  minority  on 
the  popular  vote  was  24,119.  The  elec- 
toral colleges  counted  for  Polk  included 
that  of  New  York,  (36,)  Pennsylvania,  (26,) 
Georgia,  (10,)  Louisiana,  (6) — in  all  78 
votes — to  all  of  which  Clay  was  entitled 
by  decided  popular  majorities  in  all  those 
States.  Hence,  add  those  78  votes  to 
Clay's  105  and  deduct  them  from  Polk's 
170,  will  give  Clay  183  votes  and  reduce 
Polk  to  92,  making  Clay's  majority  in  the 
electoral  colleges  91,  the  real  result  of 
the  canvass,  but  which  was  defeated  by 
the  deliberately  planned  frauds  of  the  De- 
mocracy. Even  strike  from  Polk's  170. 
New  York's  36  votes,  which  State  Clay 
confessedly  carried  by  from  5,000  to  10,000 


61 


majority,  will  leave  Polk  but  134  electoral  [ 
votes  and  give  Clay  141,  a  majority  of  7 
in  the  colleges. 

Samuel   J.    Tilden's   guilty   compUcity   in 
the  Democratic  villainy! 
In  all  these  villainous  frauds,  Samuel 
J.  Tilden,  in  New  York,  aided  by  the  no- 
torious Isaiah  Rynders  and  his  cohort  of 
unprincipled   ruffians,  and   in   Louisiana 
by  the  equally  notorious  John  Slidell,  a 
New  Yorker  by  birth,  was,  as   a  leading 
Democrat  of  the  Empire  State,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  conspiracy  for  the   defeat 
of  Clay,  an  active  and  efficient  co-worker. 
It  is  not   strange,  therefore,  that  Tilden, 
who  in  the  campaign  of  1876,  simply  at- 
tempted, in   behalf  of  himself,  to   repeat 
the  frauds  of  1844  against  Clay,  should  be 
chagrined  at  his  failure,  and  that  he  and 
his  partisans  should  so  fiercely  denounce 
fraud  against  the  Republicans  as  they  did 
in  1844  denounce  Clay  and  the  Whigs. 
The  Gambler's  Conspiracy  at  the  bottom 
of  these  grave  Democratic  crimes— And 
Tilden's  guilty  participation  in  them. 
That  Henry  Clay  was  entitled,  and  con- 
fessedly entitled,  to  the  electoral  votes  of 
the  States  of  New   York,  Pennsylvania, 
Georgia,  and  Louisiana — seventy- eight  in 
all— which,  by  fraud,  by  the  "counting- 
in"  process  which  the  Democracy  now 
charge    against    the    Republicans,    were 
counted  for  Polk,  we  have  before  us  the 
proofs  in  a  number  of  shapes.     They  can- 
not be  questioned.     In   1844  a  combina- 
tion  of  gamblers,    through  a  system   of 
betting  all  over  the  country  in  favor  of 
Polk,  as  in  the  canvass  of  1876  in  favor  of 
Tilden,   secured    by  their    winnings  the 
means  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  the 
frauds.    That  was  notoriously  so  in  New 
York,    Pennsylvania,    and    Louisiana. — 
Horace  Greeley,  in  18o8,  in   one  of  his 
^^Open  Letters  to  a  Politician^' — to  Sam'l 
J.  Tilden— reminds  Tilden  of  these  grave 
crimes,  and  of  his  participation  in  them. 
All  may  see  the  details  at  length  in  Gree- 
ley's Life  of  Henry  Clay,  in   Calvin  Col- 
ton's,    in    "The    Whig    Review,"     and 
kindred  works,  of  the  wholesale  and  sys- 
tematic villainy,  the  great  crime,  by  which 
the  illustrious  Clay  was  defrauded  of  New 
York  and  the  other  States — by  agencies 
similar  to  those  which,  in  1868,  in  New 
York,  Tilden  "counted  in"  Seymour  and 
HoflFman  when  Grant  and  Griswold  had 
carried  the  State. 

"Counting  in"  peculiarly  a  Democratic 
Process — The  bogus  Democratic  vote  of 
New  York  in  1844— The  Pennsylvania 
Democratic  frauds  of  that  year. 

This  '  'counting  in' '  is  peculiarly  a  Demo- 
cratic process — an  invention  to  which  the 


Democracy,  and  only  the  Democracy,  have 
a  sole  and  undisputed  right. 

In  New  York,  in  1844,  of  the  popular 
vote  Polk  was  in  a  minority  of  10, 706  votes. 
His  plurality  over  Clay  was  only  5,106. 
That  he  obtained  in  the  city  and  its  sur- 
roundings by  fraudulent  naturalization,  by 
repeating  and  ballot-box  stuffing;  by  the 
manufacture  and  count,  through  such  in- 
famous agencies,  of  from  10,000  to  15,000 
bogus  votes.  Some  place  the  number  as 
high  as  20,000. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  frauds  were  equally 
flagrant.  At  the  October  election  it  was 
admitted  by  the  best  posted  of  the  Democ- 
racy that  Clay  in  the  State  was  at  least 
10,000  votes  stronger  than  General  Markle, 
the  Whig  candidate  for  Governor.  Hence, 
in  order  to  beat  Clay  in  N  ovember,  Shunk'  s 
majority  must  reach  10,000.  It  was  only 
4,282,  fully  6,000  less  than  the  Democratic 
estimate  as  absolutely  necessary  to  beat 
Clay.  Nevertheless,  Clay  was  beaten. 
His  vote,  as  the  Democracy  had  calculated, 
was  5,200  greater  than  Markle' s,  and  was 
drawn  principally  from  Shunk' s;  yet  Polk's 
majority  in  the  State  was  6,332> 

The  Democratic  "model"  which  inspired 
Tilden's  infamous  Democratic  secret 
ciicular  of  1868. 

In  was  in  this  canvass  in  Pennsylvania 
that  the  model  of  Tilden's  infamous  confi- 
dential circular  of  1868,  by  which  he  ar- 
ranged the  machinery  for  the  fraudulent 
count  of  New  York  for  Seymour  and  Hoff- 
man, appeared  as  a  secret  circular,  dated 
"  Harrisburg,  January,  1844,"  and  signed 
by  Edward  A.  Penniman  and  seventeen 
Democratic  members  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature  as  an  executive  committee.  It 
was  distributed  only  among  the  faithful, 
with  the  injunction  that  its '  'contents  should 
be  made  known  only  to  such  of  our  (Demo- 
cratic) friends  as  will  keep  their  own  coun- 
cil and  assist  in  organizing  the  party;'' 
and  urged  that  "it  is  very  desirable  that  it 
should  not  appear  in  any  newspaper  or  be 
communicated  to  our  political  opponents. ' ' 
It  particularly  enjoined  the  faithful  "to 
secure  a  large  turn  out  at  the  election  of 
judges  and  inspectors  (of  the  polls. )  This 
done,  we  shall  have  the  vantage  ground, 
and  an  easy  victory  will  be  ours. '  So  it 
proved.  By  securing  the  judges  and  in- 
spectors of  the  polls,  the  count  of  any 
numljer  by  the  Democracy  was  a  very  easy 
matter. 

The  Democratic  frauds  that  in  1844  gave 
Georgia  to  Polk. 

In  Georgia,  in  1844,  and  it  may  be  so 
now,  by  the  tax- list,  the  exact  number  of 
legal  voters  in  the  State  could  be  readily 


52 


wcertained.  By  that  list  there  were  in 
the  State  78,611  votes.  At  the  Presiden- 
tial election  8G,277  votes  were  cast.  Even 
supposing,  therefore,  that  every  legal  voter 
in  the  State  attended  at  the  polls — the 
decrepid,  aged,  sick,  and  dying — there 
was  still  a  fraud  of  7,666  votes.  By  whom 
were  these  polled  ?  In  the  Whig  counties 
less  than  the  legal  vote  as  shown  by  the 
tax-list  was  polled  ;  but  in  the  Demo- 
cratic counties  of  Forsyth,  Lumpkin,  Ha- 
bersham and  Franklin  the  lawful  vote  was 
3,202.  They  returned  a  vote  of  4,014  for 
Polk  and  1,825  for  Clay— in  all  5,835— 
a  fraud  in  these  four  counties  alone  of 
2,633  ;  and  so  on  throughout  all  the  Dem- 
ocratic counties  of  Georgia.  Nevertheless 
Polk's  majority  in  the  State  was  only 
2,077. 

The  infitinoiis  Democratic  fraiuls  in  lionis- 
iana— Open,  notorious,  shameful. 

In  Louisiana  the  frauds  were  truly  vil- 
lainous. No  attempt  was  ever  made  to 
disguise  or  cover  them.  They  were  open, 
notorious  and  shameful.  John  Slidell  was 
their  infamous  engineer,  and  under  his 
manipulation  thousands  of  fraudulent 
votes  were  counted  for  Polk  in  New  Or- 
leans and  all  along  the  Mississippi  river. 
A  single  instance  will  illustrate  all.  Up 
to  the  day  of  the  rebellion — up  to  1861 — 
the  largest  aggregate  vote  polled  in  Plaq- 
uemine  parish  was  550  ;  in  1844  it  gave 
Polk  1,007  majority,  while  his  majority  in 
the  State  was  only  699. 

Thus  Tiltlen  and  the  I>emocracy  of  1844 
"counted"  Polk  "in." 

^Thus,  in  1844,  throughout  the  country, 
fraud  by  Tiiden  and  the  Democracy  was 
reduced  to  a  system-  Through  its  results 
James  K.  Polk,  the  weak  but  ambitious 
tool  of  the  pro-slavery  oligarch,  was 
"counted  in,"  and  the  gallant  and  patri- 
otic Clay,  the  illustrious  "  Great  Com- 
moner," whose  services  to  the  nation  in 
war  and  peace  constitute  the  brightest 
pages  in  its  civil  history,  was  robbed  of 
the  Presidency — was  robbed  by  Tiiden 
and  the  Democracy. 

The  Pennsylvania  Democratic  frauds  hy 
whicli  in  1857  intrepid  Fremont  was 
robhed  of  his  rights,  and  weak  "Buch- 
anan "counted  in*" 

Later,  in  1857,  by  similar  frauds  in 
Pennsylvania,  by  the  same  parties,  accom- 
plished through  like  agencies,  John  C. 
Fremont  was  cheated  of  the  same  high 
office,  and  James  Buchanan,  another 
weak  and  equally  pliant  tool  of  the  oli- 
garchal  conspirators  of  1844,  was  fraudu- 
lently placed  in  the  chair  of  Washington, 


majiifestly  under  pledges  to  complete  the 
traitorous  work  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Republic  begun  by  Polk. 

Tilden's  wholesale  frauds  in  1876  at  the 
North— His  Mississippi  shotlgrun  policy 
at  the  South. 

The  campaign  of  1876  Tiiden  mode'ed 
upon  that  of  1844.  By  similar  agencies 
or  arts,  by  wholesale  and  systematic  frauds 
in  the  North,  he  succeeded  in  carrying 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and 
Indiana;  and  in  the  South,  by  the  mur- 
derous Mississippi  shot-gun  policy,  effected 
the  manufacture  of  the  fictitious  figures 
which  constitute  his  pretended  popular 
majority. 

What  miseries  the  success  of  the  Demo- 
cratic frauds  of  1844  and  1857  entailed 
upon  the  Nation. 

In  1844  and  1857  the  oligarchal  con- 
spirators succeeded  in  disfranchising  the 
nation.  In  1876  they  failed  only  by  a 
count  of  one.  In  1844  their  fraudulent 
success  entailed  upon  the  nation  the 
crimes  of  Polk's  disastrous  reign — the 
"unholy"  Mexican  war  for  the  aggran- 
dizement of  slavery,  exacting  of  the  na- 
tion a  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  lives  and 
hundreds  of  millions  of  treasure;  his  in- 
iquitous free-trade  tariff;  his  hostility  to 
internal  improvements,  and  kindred  meas- 
ures, all  in  the  interest  of  the  pro-slavery 
oligarch ;  the  fatal  reopening  of  the  slavery 
question,  precipitated  by  the  struggle  of 
the  sections  for  the  possession  of  the  ter- 
ritory seized  from  Mexico,  and  which,  in 
1861,  under  the  manipulation  of  Buchanan 
and  the  Democracy,  culminated  in  the 
appalling  crimes  of  the  rebellion. 

Tlie  success  of  tlxe  Democratic  frauds  of 
1876  would  have  brought  upon  the  Re- 
public humiliation  and  ruin. 

In  1876  their  success  was  intended  to 
be  as  disastrous  as  those  of  1844  and  1857. 
The  Confederacy  had  failed  in  its  attempt 
to  destroy  the  Republic.  Its  prestige  and 
pride  were  humbled,  and  in  the  murder- 
ous struggle  provoked  by  its  crimes  its 
losses  had  been  immense.  Tilden's  suc- 
cess was  intended  to  redress  all  that.  A 
restoration  of  the  Confederate  to  power 
and  place  in  the  Government  was  to  be 
followed  by  the  humiliation  of  loyalty— 
the  abasement  of  the  nation  at  the  feet  of 
the  rebel  ;  and  the  ruin  of  the  Republic 
was  to  be  effected  by  the  confiscation  of 
its  property  and  means  in  the  payment  of 
thousands  of  millions  of  fraudulent  claims 
as  indemnity  to  the  Confederate  for  losses 
in  the  rebellion. 


63 


PART  II. 

Popular  and  Electoral  Votes  of 
Harrison  and  Van  Bur  en,  ~PoUl 
and  Clay,  Harrison  and  Cass 
— TiWeu's  Pretended  "Im- 
mense" popular  iMajority— 
ISome  voting  statistics  touch- 
ing the  Gulf  and  other  States- 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia, 
liouisiana,  Mississippi  and 
South  f^arolina  all  fairly  Re- 
publican States— How  South- 
ern States  were  "counted  in" 
for  Tilden. 

A  persistent  effort  has  been  made  by 
Mr.  Tilden  and  his  friends,  ever  since  his 
defeat,  to  impress  the  country  with  the 
idea  that  he  had  received  an  immense  ma- 
jority of  the  popular  vote  for  President. 
The  facts  warrant  no  such  conclusion. 
Nor  does  it  follow  that  such  a  majority 
would  necessarily  secure  his  election, 
whether  it  was  small  or  large. 

"Pppular  votes"  not  necessary  to  the 
election  of  a  President— It  is  tlie  elec- 
toral vote  that  tells— Some  Presidential 
examples. 

Under  our  electoral  system  the  popular 
majority  is  a  secondary  consideration. 
Thus  Delaware  and  Nevada,  which  to- 
gether cast  only  43,824  votes,  all  told,  for 
President  in  1876,  had  six  electoral  votes, 
as  many  as  California,  which  cast  154,459 
votes. 

In  1840,  in  a  total  vote  of  2,410,782, 
Harrison  had  a  popular  majority  of  only 
139,250,  but  carried  234  electoral  votes  to 
Van  Buren's  60. 

In  1844,  Polk  had  24,119  popular  ma- 
jority against  him,  yet  he  counted  170 
electoral  votes  to  Clay's  105. 

In  1848,  General  Harrison  had  151,808 
popular  majority  against  him,  but  re- 
ceived 163  electoral  votes  to  127  for  Mr. 
Cass. 

These  examples  might  be  multiplied, 
and  serve  to  show  that  a  popular  majority 
is  not  necessary  to  the  election  of  a  Presi- 
dent. 

The  facts  in  the  Presidential   election   of 
1876 — What  vote  on  the  surface. 

But  while  this  is  true,  the  facts  in  the 
election  of  1876  show  that  the  case  of  Mr. 
Hayes  is  not  exceptional,  like  the  ex- 
amples cited ;  that  he  was,  in  fact,  the 
first  choice  of  a  majority  of  the  voters  of 
the  country. 

The  aggregate  vote  for  President  was 
8,399,297,    divided    as    follows 


4,033,295  ;  Tilden,  4,284,265,  and  Cooper, 
81,737.  Tilden's  majority  on  these  fig- 
ures, 157,394. 

Ordinarily  this  result  would  be  regarded 
as  conclusive,  and  would  show  the  rela- 
tive strength  of  the  candidates  before  the 
people  ;  but  the  election  of  1876  warrants 
no  such  conclusion.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  facts  conclusively  prove  that  these 
figures,  like  Mr.  Tilden's  boasted  election 
and  majority,  are  utterly  fictitious  and 
false — that  they  do  not  represent  the  pop- 
ular will  at  that  time.  This  will  appear 
by  a  further  analysis  of  the  vote  of  1876. 

The  popular  vote  in  the  Free  States,  Bor- 
der States  and  Slave  States  grouped  and 
compared  with  census  of  voting  popu- 
lation. 

In  the  former  (or  present)  free  States 
there  was  cast  a  total  of  5,622,210  votes, 
of  which  Hayes  received  2,939,729  and 
Tilden,  2,682,481 ;  majority  for  Hayes, 
257,248. 

In  the  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, North  Carolina,  Missouri,  Arkan- 
sas, and  Texas  the  total  vote  was  1,830,- 
219.  For  Hayes,  744.747  ;  for  Tilden, 
1,085,472;  Tilden's  majority,  340,825. 

In  South,  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana  the 
vote  was  890,811,  of  which  Hayes  re- 
ceived 362,231  and  Tilden,  528,590  ;  Til- 
den's majority,  166,359. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870,  the 
latest  enumeration  available,  there  were 
in  the  Northern  States  at  that  time 
4,850,151  male  citizens  over  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  The  vote  for  President  in 
those  States,  as  has  already  been  shown 
was  5,622,210.  Increase  over  the  enu- 
meration, 772,059. 

In  the  second  group  of  States  the  enu- 
meration was  1,800,639  ;  total  vote  for 
President,  1,815,009.  Increase  over  the 
enumeration,  only  14,370. 

In  the  last  group,  or  Gulf  States,  the 
enumeration  was  973,714  ;  total  vote  for 
Hayes  and  Tilden,  890,811.  Loss  on  the 
enumeration,  82,903. 

Recapitulation :  In  the  free  States, 
where  the  election  was  free,  fair,  and 
full,  there  was  a  gain  of  772,059  voters. 
In  the  border  slave  States,  where  Re- 
publicans are  kept  in  hopeless  minori- 
ties, and  diet  not  cast  their  full  vote,  the 
increase  was  only  14,370.  In  the  South- 
ern Republican  States,  where  Republican 
majorities  were  subverted  by  armed  vio- 
lence, the  loss  was  82,903. 

Assuming  that  the  increase  of  voters  in 
these  States  was  of  equal  ratio  to  the  free 
States,  the  increase  over  the  enumeration 


54 


would  have  been  114,714.  Adding  the 
loss  of  82,903  to  this  amount,  and  we 
have  197,617  votes,  or  about  one  in  six, 
not  cast  in  the  six  States  last  named. 

The  real  voting  streng:th  of  the  Gulf 
States— Showing  in  1870  a  total  colored 
majority  of  57,335. 

But  there  is  another  and  still  more  re- 
liable method  of  ascertaining  the  real  vot- 
ing strength  and  popular  will  of  those 
States.  In  1870  the 
as  follows  : 


voters  were  divided 


White. 

Color'd 

Alabama  

104,276 
19,211 

127,785 
72,413 
76.577 
57,933 

105.612 

Florida 

Georgia 

Louisiana 

20,170 

119,920 

80.126 

Alississippi 

97.724 

South  Carolina 

91.978 

Total 

458.195 

515,530 

Colored  majority 

..  57.335 

And   exiiibiting  a   total  Republican    ma- 
jority of  183,335  in  1870. 

In  ascertaining  the  Republican  strength 
South  two  estimates  may  be  made  that 
are  perfectly  reliable.  First,  that  the 
colored  vote  is  solidly  Republican  ;  sec- 
ondly, that  a  small  per  cent,  of  the  white 
vote  is  Republican ;  much  depending  on 
the  locality  and  the  freedom  of  election. 
The  division  of  voters  on  this  basis  is 
shown  in  the  following  table  : 


Republican. 

Demo- 
cratic. 

Colored. 

White. 

White. 

Alabama 

105.612 
20.170 

119.920 
80.126 
97.724 
91,978 

15,000 
3.000 
20.000 
10.000 
10.000 
5.0.0 

89,276 
16.211 
107,785 
62,413 
66  577 

Florida 

Qeorgii 

Louisiana 

Mississippi 

South  Carolina 

52  933 

515.530 

6^000 

395.195 

Total  Republican  vote 578.530 

Total  Democratic  vote 395,195 

Republican  majority 183.335 

These  figures  are  based  on  the  popula- 
tion and  enumeration  of  1870. 

Subsequent  changes  of  popiUatiou  favor 
the  Republicans,  especially  in  South 
Carolina,  Mississippi  and  I^ouisiana, 

Whatever  changes  have  taken  place 
since  that  time,  and  they  are  considerable, 
are  favorable  to  the  Republicans.  This 
is  notably  true  of  South  Carolina,  Missis- 


sippi, and  Louisiana.  These  three  States 
continued  under  Republican  control  long 
after  the  States  adjoming  had  fallen  under 
Democratic  dominion.  Democratic  rule 
was  accompanied  by  the  abolishment  of 
colored  schools  and  harsh  and  proscriptive 
administration.  Thereupon  there  was  an 
exodus  of  negroes  from  those  States  to  the 
others,  where  the  rights  and  interests  of 
their  race  were  respected,  their  children 
educated,  and  the  ruling  powers  were 
friendly.  The  States  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and  Texas 
contributed  many  thousands  of  their  col- 
ored voters  on  this  account  to  South  Car- 
olina, Mississippi,  and  Louisiana.  The 
last  election  affords  abundant  proof  of 
this  statement.     Take 

South  Carolina 

for  example.     The  vote  in  this  State  for 
the  years  named  was  as  follows  : 

1868— Republican 62.301 

Democratic 45.207 

Republican  majority 17.094 

1870— Republican 85.071 

Democratic 51,537 

Republican  majority 33,534 

1872— Republican.. 72.290 

Democratic 22.703 

Republican  majority 49,587 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  total 
white  vote  in  1870  was  57,933,  and  the 
colored  vote  91,978,  the  total  being  149,911, 
and  the  colored  majority  34,545. 

1876— Republican  vote 91,870 

Democratic  vote 91.076 

Total 182  946 

Voteofl870 149.911 

Increase 33.035 

A  passing  reference  to  the  past  white 
population  of  South  Carolina  leaves  no 
doubt  that  this  increase  was  almost  wholly 
colored.  The  United  States  census  fur- 
nish the  following  figures. 

1830 .- 257.863 

1840 259.084 

1850 274.563 

1860 291.300 

1870 289.667 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  white  pop- 
ulation of  the  State  has  been  almost  sta- 
tionary for  the  past  half  century.  It  will 
not  be  argued  by  the  Opposition  that  it 
has  received  marvelous  increase  under  the 
very  odious  (!)  Republican  Administra- 
tion since  reconstruction.  Whence,  then, 
the  33,035  votes  added  to  the  poll-books? 
If  they  are  not  white  they  must  be  col- 
ored, and  this  is  the  fact.  Then  we  have 
the  actual  vote  of  South  Carolina,  con- 
firmed by  this  test,  as  follows : 


55 


Colored 124,033 

White 57.933 

Colored  majority 66.100 

Mississippi  Republican  by  40,000  major- 
ity, yet  "counted  in"  by  "51,500  majori- 
ty" for  Tilden. 

Next  take  Mississippi.  The  colored 
majority  in  1870  was  21,157.  Alcorn  was 
elected  Republican  Governor  in  1869  by 
a  majority  of  38,089.  Grant's  majority  in 
1872  was  35,119.  It  is  admitted  by  all 
conversant  with  the  political  affairs  of  the 
State  that  the  present  colored  majority  is 
fully  40,000.  Yet  Mr.  Tilden  carried  the 
State,  much  as  a  storming  party  carries 
intrenchments,  by  a  majority  of  61,468. 
How  was  this  done?  Take  the  five  fol- 
lowing counties  to  illustrate : 


^       ?2 


05  S  OQ 


S      §      §3 

LO  t-  -# 

N         -*         of 


Here  was  an  actual  loss  of  15,578  Re- 
publican votes  in  four  counties,  and  of 
6,223  on  the  aggregate  vote  of  1872,  in 
counties  where  the  colored  vote  has  been 
increased  by  immigration  fully  2,500 
since  that  year.  The  returns  from  other 
parts  of  the  State  are  in  keeping  with 
these.  It.  is  needless  to  recount  the 
means  that  operated  to  eflfect  this  change. 
Suffice  to  say  that  a  Government  which 
allows  its  citizens  to  be  outraged  in  this 
manner  and  suffers  itself  directly  from 
the  outrage  does  not  appear  to  be  worth 
preserving.  The  State  of  Mississippi  as 
rightfully  belongs  to  Hayes  and  the  Re- 
publican cause  as  Massachusetts  or  Ver- 
mont. Yet  it  was  counted  for  Mr.  Til- 
den by  51,500  majority,  without  even  al- 
lowing the  Republicans  of  the  State  the 
poor  privilege  of  protesting  against  the 
fraud. 


Mr.  Potter  may  boast  of  800,000,  and 
Mr.  Tilden  exult  over  157,394  majority 
on  the  face  of  the  returns,  but  the  facts, 
as  herein  shown,  establish  the  utter 
falsity  of  the  claim. 


PART  III. 

Florida— Bloody  violence  fail- 
ing, fraud  and  judicial  usur- 
pation resoried  to— A  brief 
history  of  tlie  entire  series  of 
fraudulent  proceedings  by 
whicb  Tilden  strove  to  cap- 
ture tbat  one  needed  electoral 
vote— Facts,  figures  and  inci- 
dents. 
Following  is  a  summary  of  the  entire 

"Florida  case"  in  brief : 

Bloody      violence      and      ballot-box     de- 
bauchery. 

At  the  election  in  Florida  of  Presi- 
dential electors,  November  7,  1876,  every 
expedient,  whether  fraudulent  or  violent, 
was  employed  by  the  Tildenites  to  secure 
a  majority  at  the  polls — at  least  to  secure 
a  majority  on  the  face  of  the  returns.  In 
the  Democratic  counties  all  the  election 
machinery  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Til- 
denites. The  "Mississippi  shot-gun  pol- 
icy" was  their  favorite;  but  when  that 
failed  the  resort  was  to  debauch  the  ballot- 
boxes  or  manipulate  the  returns.  A  denial 
of  bloody  violence  during  the  canvass  is 
not  seriously  pretended]  it  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully maintained. 

The  State  at  first  conceded  to  Hayes — One 
vote  needed  for  Tilden— The  whole  sit- 
uation thereupon  changes— The  Attor- 
ney General  denies  his  Master,  the  Peo- 
ple—"And  immediately  the  Cocke  crew." 

Early  after  the  day  of  voting  the  returns 
from  the  Republican  counties  were  re- 
ceived at  Tallahassee — Escambia,  Gads- 
den, Leon,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Alachua, 
Duval,  Nassau,  and  Marion;  and  their ag- 
gate  majority,  (7,418  for  Hayes)  was  pub- 
licly known.  The  returns  from  Baker  and 
Dade  subsequently  increased  that  to  7,463. 
The  State  by  the  Democracy  was  con- 
ceded to  Hayes  by  a  handsome  majority. 
It  was  not  considered  probable  that  the 
Republican  majority  would  or  could  be 
overcome  in  the  Democratic  counties;  nor 
was  it  pretended  as  possible  until  the  vote 
of  the  State  became  necessary  to  Tilden' s 
election,  Instantly,  then,  the  whole  situ- 
ation was  changed.  The  State  was  claimed 
by  the  Democracy.  A  clamor  of  fraud 
was  raised  by  them  as  a  blind  to  the  vil- 
lainy by  which  the  Tildenites,  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic counties,  remote  from  the  capital 


56 


and  (liflBcuU  of  acscesfl,  proposed  to  destroy 
Hayes'  majority;  and,  as  a  part  of  the 
conspiracy  to  that  end,  th«  Democratic 
Attorney  General  of  the  State  telegraphed 
North  : 

Tallahasskk,  Fla.,  November  14, 1876. 
The  returns  from  the  county  managers  not 
yet  in.  The  Board  of  State  Canvassers,  of  which 
I,  aft  Attorney  (janeral,  am  one.  does  not  meet 
for  thirty-five  days  after  the  election,  but  you 
m»y  rest  assured  that  T>lden  has  carrie<l  the 
State  and  Drew  is  elected.  I  do  not  think  the 
Radicals  can  cheat  the  Democrats  out  of  the 
State.  William  Archer  Cocke. 

Novr,  if  the  returns  were  not  yet  in  at 
the  date  of  tbis  dispatch,  where  did  Cocke 
get  his  information?  How  did  he  know 
that  the  State  had  voted  for  Tilden?  The 
Republicans,  from  the  returns  actually  in, 
from  their  aggregate  majority  as  compared 
with  the  results  of  previous  elections, 
knew  that  the  State  had  voted  for  Hayes 
by  a  decisive  majority-  But  how  and 
where  did  Cocke  obtain  his  information? 
What  special  means  had  he  of  communi- 
cating with  the  Democratic  counties,  so 
remote  from  Tallahassee  and  so  difficult 
of  access?    Is  not  the  answer  plain  ? 

First  warning  to  the  Republicans— The 
Tilden  Democrats  cnt  the  wires,  wreck 
trains  and  bull-doze  the  Governor's 
couriers. 

This  dispatch  of  the  Democratic  Attor- 
ney General  of  the  State  waa  a  warniigto 
the  Republicans  of  the  fraudulent  plots  at 
work.  It  aroused  them  to  action.  But 
all  the  efforts  of  Governor  Stearns  to  se- 
cure the  actual  results  of  the  election — to 
protect  the  ballot-boxes  and  returns  from 
mutilation  and  fraud — were  resisted  by  the 
most  violent  agencies.  The  telegraph  wires 
were  cut,  a  train,  in  which  were  some  of 
the  Governor's  messengers  to  the  western 
counties,  was  ku-kluxed  and  wrecked, 
and  his  couriers  were  intercepted  and 
turned  back  with  the  warning  threat  that 
if  they  dared  to  proceed  without  a  pass 
from  Mr.  Pasco,  the  chairman  of  the 
Democratic  committee  at  Tallahassee, 
they  would  be  assassinated. 

But  in  spite  of  all  this,  and  much  more, 
Hayes  has  a  majority  on  the  face  of  the 
retui-ns  of  43. 

Even  under  such  circumstances,  with 
violence  and  fraud  rampant  throughout 
the  Democratic  sections  of  the  State,  the 
returns  of  all  the  counties,  excepting 
those  of  Dade,  when  opened  on  the  28th 
of  November,  showed  on  their  face  a  ma- 
jority of  43  for  the  Hayes  electors,  to  wit: 


HAYES  ELECTORS. 

Humphreys 24,328 

Pearce....„ 24,321 

Long .24.323 

Holden .24,328 


TILDEN  ELECrORS. 

Yonge 24,284 

Call 54,285 

Hilton 24,283 

Bullock 24,282 


The  returns  from  Dade,  which  were  re- 
ceived on  Monday,  December  4,  were : 
For  Hayes,  9  ;  for  Tilden.  4. 

Clauior  of  "fraud"  against  the  Republi- 
cans—Bribei*y  rampant— Tildeu's  "barrel 
of  gold"  at  work. 

This  result,  although  a  serious  disap- 
pointment to  the  Democracy,  yet  in- 
cited and  nerved  the  Tildenites  to  renewed 
clamors  of  fraud  against  the  Republicans, 
and  they  now  settled  down  in  dead  earnest 
to  the  desperate  work  of  wresting  the  State 
from  its  Republican  majority.  False- 
hoods and  false  charges  of  fraud  against 
the  Republicans  were  systematically 
telegraphed  over  the  country  as  a  means 
of  prejudging  the  canvass  of  votes,  per- 
jurers were  recruited  with  bribes  to  sus- 
tain these  charges,  and  unscrupulous  par- 
tisan counsel,  feed  from  the  notorious 
"barrel  of  gold,"  were  imported  from  the 
North  to  superintend  and  manage  the  ef- 
forts to  capture  the  State  for  Tilden. 

The  Board  of  State   canvassers — The  law 
governing  their  action. 

Under  the  fourth  section  of  the  law  of 
Florida,  approved  February  27,  1872,  the 
Board  of  State  Canvassers  consisted  of 
the  Secretary  of  State,  Samuel  B.  McLin, 
who  was  elected  its  president;  Comptroller 
of  Accounts  Clayton  A.  Cowgill,  and  At- 
torney General  William  Archer  Cocke. 
The  two  former  were  classed  as  Republi- 
cans; the  latter  is  a  Democrat,  and  all 
three  are  native  sons  of  the  South.  Under 
the  same  sectioa  the  canvassing  board  is 
required  to  meet  in  the  office  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  State  within  thirty-five  days 
after  any  general  or  special  election,  and 
proceed  to  canvass  the  returns  and  deter- 
mine and  declare  who  shall  have  been 
elected,  as  shown  by  such  returns.  It 
commands  :  "If  any  such  returns  shall  be 
shown,  or  shall  appear,  to  be  so  irregulai'y 
false  or  fraudulent,  that  the  board  shall 
be  unable  to  determine  the  true  vote  for 
any  such  officer  or  member,  they  shall  so 
certify,  and  shall  not  include  such  return 
in  their  determination  and  declaration.''^ 

Attorney  General  Cocke  objected  to  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  because  of  pre- 
judgment—He  goes  on  Ills  knees  and  is 
forgiven, 

Hence  the  canvassing  board  began  its 
sessions  on  the  27th  of  November.  At- 
torney General  Cocke's  unfitness  to  serve 
with  the  board  was  urged,  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  prejudged  the  case,  even 
before  the  receipt  of  the  returns,  and 
that  consequently  he  could  not  render 
an  impartial  judgment ;  but  that  gentle- 


57 


man,  having  earnestly  pledged  himself 
that  he  would  be  goveraed  in  his  action 
by  his  oath  and  the  facts,  the  objection  to 
his  acting  wj^s  withdrawn. 

The  Board  under  Democratic  counsel, 
rule  and  i>recedent  proceed  to  business 
and  find  a  majority  for  Hayes. 

Under  the  written  opinion  of  this  gen- 
tleman, the  Democratic  Attorney  Oene- 
ral  of  the  State,  and  the  legal  adviser  of 
the  board,  given  in  1874,  with  the  ap- 
plause of  the  Democracy,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  practice  adopted  under 
tha.t  opinion  in  the  canvass  of  that  year,  by 
which  the  Democracy  so  greatly  profited,  a 
contest  of  the  county  returns,  or  of  the 
vote  of  any  county  or  of  any  precinct  of  a 
county,  was  allowed.  The  Democratic 
Attorney  General  in  substanc  ^  declared  : 
"  It  is  the  duty  of  the  board  to  seek  the 
true  returns."  Accordingly  the  canvass- 
ing board  proceeded  to  find  the  true  vote 
of  •  he  State.  The  returns  of  all  the  coun- 
ties were  opened,  and  upon  their  face,  as 
stated  above,  showed  a  majority  of  43  for 
Hayes.  The  subsequent  return  from  Dade 
increased  tJiat  majority  to  48. 

The  Democracy  at  once  cry  "fraud"— Tlie 
Republicans  tax  Democratic  counties 
with  "shenanogan." 

The  Democracy  immediately  assailed 
the  returns  from  Baker  and  other  coun- 
ties, and  the  Republicans  fikd  objections 
to  the  returns  from  a  number  of  Demo- 
cratic counties  and  precincts.  All  these, 
under  the  express  commands  of  the  laws 
of  the  Slate,  the  written  advice  of  the 
Democratic  Attorney  General,  and  the 
previous  practice  of  the  board  under  both, 
the  board  determined  to  inquire  into. 
But  the  twenty-four  uncontested  counties 
— to  wit,  Brevard,  Bradford,  Calhoun, 
Dade,  Escambia,  Franklin,  Gadsden, 
Hillsborough,  Holmes,  Lafayette,  Lib- 
erty,' Madison,  Marion,  Putnam,  Polk, 
Santa  Rosa,  Sumter,  St.  John's,  Suwa- 
nee,  Taylor,  Volusia,  Wakulla,  Walton, 
and  Washington — were  first  taken  up  and 
canvassed  according  to  the  face  of  the  re- 
turns. 

The  Board  investigates  for  the  "true"  re- 
turns— Much  unaniimty  in  its  findings — 
The  counties  of  Baker,  Clay,  Hernando, 
Nassau.  Levy,  Orange,  Leon,  Hamilton, 
Muni'oe,  Jefferson  and  Manatee. 

The  board  then  entered  into  an  investi- 
gation for  the  true  returns  in  the  contested 
counties.  The  investigation  was  public. 
In  all  its  proceedings,  in  all  its  findings,  or 
means  of  ascertaining  the  true  return,  it. 
acted  upon  the  opinions  and  advice  of  its 


legal  adviser,  the  Democratic  Attorney 
General  of  the  State.  It  of  course  con- 
sulted other  counsel.  But  those,  in  their 
opinions,  only  confirmed  the  general  prin- 
ciples laid  down  for  their  rule  of  action  by 
the  Attorney  General.  Indeed,  there  was 
little  actual  discord  or  difference  among 
its  miembers.  Thus,  in  the  counties  of 
Baker,  Clay,  Hernando,  Nassau,  Levy 
Orange,  Leon,  Htimiiton,  and  Monroe  the 
true  return  was  found,  as  nearly  as  was 
possible,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
board,  Attorney  General  Cocke  voting  with 
his  Republican  associates  in  the  findings 
and  count.  In  Jefferson  county  sixty  votes 
were  unanimously  deducted  from  the  Re- 
publican count;  the  remainder  of  the  county 
was  counted.  The  vote  of  Manatee  county 
was  rejected  because  of  the  entire  absence 
of  all  legal  preparation  for  holding  the 
election.     No  election,  in  fact,  was  held. 

Alachua  County— Democratic  ballot-box 
staffing — Bold  perjuries  and  confessed 
bribes. 

In  Alachua  county  a  determined  effort 
was  made  by  the  Democracy  to  destroy 
the  count  of  Archer  precinct  No.  2.  It 
was  largely  Republican.  All  election  day 
it  was  made  the  rendezvous  of  leading 
Democrats.  All  day  they  plotted  to  de- 
stroy the  vote  of  the  precinct.  But  how? 
At  night,  after  the  close  of  the  polls,  the 
vote  was  canvassed,  counted,  and  com- 
pared with  the  poll-lists,  duly  certified  and 
signed  by  all  the  election  officers — two 
Democrats  and  two  Republicans — and, 
after  the  sealing  of  the  ballot-boxes,  the 
vote  and  majority  was  announced — about 
the  usual  and  previously  uaquestioaed 
majority.  The  ballot-boxes  were  then 
placed  in  the  court-house,  an  insecnre 
building,  with  loose  shutters,  and  yield- 
ing fastenings.  This  the  Democrats 
guarded  at  night  on  the  pretence  of  pro- 
tecting the  ballot-boxes ;  but  so  negli- 
gentlj  that  some  one  entered,  opened  the 
boxes,  extracted  some  of  the  ballots,  and 
substituted  others.  But  who?  The  Re- 
publicans had  no  motive  for  the  act.  The 
safety  of  those  ballots  was  the  guarantee 
of  their  returns.  Their  manipulation 
so  as  to  change  the  announced  and  re- 
turned result  was  their  loss,  but  was  an 
immense  gain  for  the  Democracy.  There 
was  no  doubt  in  the  matter.  Even  the 
bold  perjuries  and  confessed  bribes  of  the 
Democratic  witnesses,  Green  R.  Moores 
and  Floyd  Dukes,  demonstrate  who  were 
the  guilty  parties  and  what  the  manifest 
object  of  the  crime.  That  no  doubt 
should  be  had  about  the  accuracy  of  the 
canvass,  the  R*^publicans  verified  their 
votes  by  the  affidavits  of  the  persons  vot- 


68 


log ;  bat  the  Democrats  utterly  failed  in 
their  attempt  at  a  verification  of  their  pre- 
tended vote.  Hence  the  canvassing  board 
accepted  and  counted  the  returns  thus 
verified. 

Baker  and  Duvall  counties— The  Demo- 
cratic deviltries  in  Jackson  county— 
Ttie  canvass  completed. 

In  canvassing  Baker  county,  a  Demo- 
cratic county,  the  Republican  members  of 
the  board  voted  whh  Cocke;  and  in  Du- 
vall County  the  board,  after  verifying  the 
county  returns  by  a  comparison  with  the 
precinct  returns,  determined  to  count  the 
vote. 

In  Jackson  county,  Campbelton  and 
Friendship  Church  precincts  were  thrown 
out  because  the  election  and  returns  were 
frauds  upon  the  election  laws.  At  the 
Campbelton  precinct  the  ballot-box  at  the 
adjournment  for  dinner  was  taken  from 
the  polling-booth,  placed  in  an  adjoining 
store  unsealed,  and  concealed  from  the 
public.  At  the  close  of  the  poll  the  bal- 
lots were  not  counted  nor  compared  with 
the  number  of  names  on  the  poll  list,  and 
only  76  Republican  votes  were  returned 
where  133  swore  that  they  had  voted.  At 
Friendship  Church  precinct  the  ballot-box 
was  hidden  from  the  view  of  the  public 
and  of  the  voters,  even  when  voting ;  a 
supervisor — not  an  inspector — received 
the  ballots  at  a  window  above  the  heads 
of  the  voters,  below  the  sill  of  which,  out 
of  sight,  was  placed  the  ballot-box.  In- 
stead of  making  and  completing  the  can- 
vass at  the  polling-booth,  without  adjourn- 
ment and  in  view  of  the  public,  the  boxes 
were  removed  two  miles  away  to  a  bed- 
room, where  the  returns  were  made  up 
without  counting  the  ballots  or  comparing 
them  with  the  poll-lists.  The  county, 
with  these  deductions,  was  canvassed. 
That  completed  the  canvass. 

An  "Empliatic"  Weather-Cocke's  admis- 
sions— Manton  Marble  and  the  other 
Tilden  agents  "see"  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral. 

And  in  all  its  decisions  the  canvassing 
board  was  governed  by  the  advice  of  the 
Democratic  Attorney  General.  In  the  re- 
jection of  Hamilton  county,  Cocke  was 
emphatic  in  his  declaration  that  it  should 
be  rejected.  He  was  equally  decided  in 
the  rejection  of  Monroe.  When  appealed 
to  for  his  legal  opinion,  he  said  :  "ii^  must 
be  thrown  out.''''  But  when  the  extent  and 
reckless  character  of  the  Democratic 
frauds  began  to  dawn  upon  him,  he  got 
frightentd  and  nervous  at  the  results  of 
his  advice.      When  compelled  to  reject 


Hamilton  county,  he  said:  "  This  elects 
Hayes. y  When  Jackson,  with  its  eighty 
unpunished  murders  was  passed  in  review 
and  rejected,  he  said  :  \This  elects 
Steartts.^^  And  he  only  proposed  to  re- 
cede from  his  action  after  an  interview 
with  Manton  Marble  &  Co.  But  there 
was  no  retreat.  The  board  could  only  act 
UDon  the  facts  under  the  law  in  the  light 
of  its  duty  impartially  performed.  It  could 
not  exclude  or  count  votes  for  the  single 
purpose  of  electing  Tilden  and  Drew  ;  it 
must  reject  all  returns  vitiated  by  proved 
fraud.     That  it  did,  and  that  only. 

The  final  result  of  the  count— Hayes'  ma- 
jority 933— What  it  "might  have  been." 

The  result,  as  found  by  the  board,  was 
as  follows : 


FOR  HAYES  ELECTORS. 

Humphreys 23,849 

Pearce 23.844 

Holden 23,848 

Long 23.843 


FOR  TILDEN  ELECTORS. 

yonge 22,923 

Call 22,919 

Hilton... 22.921 

Bullock 22.919 


Majority  for  Hayes  923  ;  and  the  evi- 
dence of  their  own  witnesses  before  the 
Congressional  investigating  committee  of 
1876  demonstrates  that  if  there  had  been 
a  fair  election,  even  an  honest  return  of 
the  election  actually  held,  Hayes'  major- 
ity, instead  of  being  only  923,  would  have 
ranged  between  2,000  and  3,000  votes. 

The  baffled  Tildenites  self-stultification— 
They  fly  to  the  Democratic  courts  to 
force  the  defunct  State  Canvassing 
Board  to  come  to  life  and  action. 

Yet  the  Democracy  were  not  happy. 
Their  situation  was  as  deplorable  as  it  was 
desperate.  They  had  been  baffled  at 
every  turn.  Violence,  fraud,  bribery,, 
and  perjury  had  all  failed  them,  and  yet 
the  State  must  be  captured  for  Tilden.  All 
will  remember  the  situation.  South  Caro- 
lina had  been  surrendered.  In  Louisiana 
they  had  no  hope.  Hence  Florida  must 
be  wrested  from  Hayes.  But  how  to  do 
it?  How  to  assail  the  finding  of  the  can- 
vassing board?  It  had  acted  under  the 
law — under  the  Democratic  theory  of  its 
meaning,  and  under  the  opinion  and  ad- 
vice of  the  Democratic  Attorney  General, 
the  highest  law  officer  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Florida.  Stultification  was  their 
only  recourse.  They  must  assail  the 
powers  of  the  board.  They  bad  con-tended 
that  it  was  clothed  with  judicial  powers  ; 
that  its  duty  was  to  go  behind  the  returns 
and  find  the  true  vote.  They  now  assailed 
that  position.  They  appealed  to  the  State 
Court  to  compel  the  canvassing  board,  a 
political  body,  and  that  hody  functus  offi- 


59 


cio  under  the  law  creating  it — it  having 
performed  the  functions  imposed  upon  it 
by  law  and  adjourned  sine  die.  They 
appealed  to  the  judiciary  to  force  the 
board  to  revive,  to  review  its  canvass  of 
the  votes  of  the  State,  and  to  count  in 
Tilden  and  Drew  ;  to  the  court  to  perform 
a  political  and  partisan  act  for  the  main- 
tenance of  crimes,  of  which  murder,  bal- 
lot box  stufiSng,  forgery  of  returns,  brib- 
ery, and  perjury  were  the  demonstrated 
elements. 

The  Democratic  court  complies — An 
usurpation — Yet  still  Hayes  had  a  ma- 
jority. 

The  Democratic  court  readily  complied. 
Its  mandamus  to  the  canvassing  board 
was  an  usurpation  as  violent  as  it  was 
novel.  It  was  a  process  unknown  to  the 
law.  It  violated  the  laws  of  Florida.  It 
changed  the  court  from  a  judicial  to  a 
political  and  partisan  body — into  a  can- 
vassing board — and  transferred  the  powers 
and  duties  of  the  board,  a  body  constituted 
of  three  members  under  the  laws  of 
Florida,  to  the  court  in  the  person  of  a 
single  judge.  Now,  a  mandamus  may 
issue  compelling  an  officer  to  act,  to  per- 
form the  functions  of  his  office,  but  a 
mandamus  instructing  a  political  body  in 
the  manner  of  performing  its  duties,  dic- 
tating to  a  canvassing  board  what  it  shall 
count  in  determining  the  result  of  a  po- 
litical election,  was  an  usurpation  without 
a  precedent.  Even  under  the  recanvass 
thus  forced  through  the  judiciary  in  viola- 
tion of  law  the  Hayes  electors  had  still  a 
majority  by  the  very  vote  which  elected 
Drew. 

Further  usurpations  by  the  Democratic 
Judiciary  and  Democratic  State  Liegis- 
lature— All  lar's  of  the  Tilden  plot. 

Like  its  mandamus  to  the  canvassing 
board,  the  quo  warranto  proceedings  of 
this  debauched  court  against  the  electoral 
college  of  the  State — an  inquiry  to  a  body 
functus  officio,  dead  in  law,  by  what  right 
it  performed  certain  functions  before  it 
expired — was  an  "absolute  novelty"  in 
law  ;  an  usurpation  as  violent  as  its  pur- 
poses were  fraudulent.  The  acts  of  the 
Democratic  Legislature  of  Florida  were 
of  a  like  character — simply  usurpation 
without  a  precedent,  retroactive  acts  to 
reverse  proceedings  complete,  legal,  and 
final  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
and  the  laws  of  Florida  at  the  date  of  their 
performance — all  acts,  indeed,  in  pursu- 
ance of  a  conspiracy  for  the  triumph  of 
fraud  and  crimes  without  a  parallel  in  the 
history  of  the  Republic. 


PART  lY. 

liOuiisiana— Ifs  population  and 
votes— The  Ku-Klnx  crimes  of 
1868— The  Tilden  Rifle  Clubs 
of  1876— Terrible  outrages  and 
murders  in  the  seventeen  Par- 
ishes—The State  Returning 
Roard— Its  Duties— How  and 
why  it  acted— Infamy  of  Til- 
den and  the  Democracy. 

The  following  facts  and  figures  prove  the 
Republicanism  of  Louisiana  and  the  crimes 
of  the  Tilden  Democratic  conspiracy 
against  it : 

Population  and   voters — Republican    ma- 
jority of  30,000  at  least. 

In  1875  the  male  population  of  Louisi- 
ana, according  to  the  State  census,  was: 
Whites^  404,916;  colored,  450,611.  Of 
the  white  males  thousands  were  aliens  and 
non-voters,  merely  residents  of  the  State, 
engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  under  the 
treaties  with  France  ceding  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States.  In  November,  1876, 
on  the  day  of  the  Presidential  election,  the 
registration  in  the  State  stood :  Whites, 
92,996;  colored,  115,310,  showing  a  Repub- 
lican majority  on  the  face  of  the  register, 
upon  the  color  line  alone,  of  22,314.  It  is 
estimated  that  in  the  State  there  were  not 
less  than  10,000  white  Republicans,  while 
not  half  that  number  of  colored  men  voted 
the  Democratic  ticket.  It  is  therefore  a 
moderate  estimate,  justified  by  an  over- 
whelming array  of  facts,  developed  during 
the  campaign,  that  on  election  day,  with 
a  legal  and  quiet  poll  of  the  entire  vote  of 
the  respective  parties,  the  Republican  ma- 
jority in  the  State,  at  the  smallest  figure, 
was  20,000  votes. 

The    Democratic    plot — The    Tilden    con- 
spirators secret  circular. 

The  Tilden  Democratic  conspirators, 
backed  by  no  end  of  Tilden  "barrels  of 
gold,"  and  their  minds  inflamed  by  the 
lust  of  untold  millions  in  fraudulent  rebel 
claims,  decided  to  overcome  this  large  Re- 
publican majority  by  a  deep  and  devlish 
plot. 

In  a  '  'confidential' '  circular  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic Conservative  State  Central  Com- 
mittee, at  New  Orleans,  signed  by  J.  W. 
Patton,  president,  and  P.J.  Sullivan,  sec- 
retary, the  organization  of  clubs  was 
directed  in  the  different  parishes.  The 
circular  urged  that  in  conversation  no 
gloomy  forebodings  should  be  indulged  in, 
and  that  the  result  of  the  election  should 
be  spoken  of  as  a  foregone  conclusion, 
"as  we  have  the  means  of  carrying  the 


60 


election,  and  intend  to  do  so.  But  be 
careful  to  say  and  do  nothing  that  can  be 
construed  into  a  threat  or  intimidation  of 
any  character."  Frequent  meetings  of 
all  these  clubs  were  enjoined.  iTieir 
members  were  instructed  to  occasionally 
aBBemble  at  their  several  places  of  meet- 
ing, and  to  proceed  thence  on  horseback 
to  the  central  rendezvous.  ''Proceediogs 
of  that  character  would  impress  the  ne- 
groes with  a  sense  of  the  united  strength" 
of  the  Democracy.  And  it  directed  that 
on  election  day,  at  each  polling  place,  affi- 
davits should  be  prepared,  affirming  "that 
there  has  been  no  intimidation  and  no  dis- 
turbance on  account  of  any  efiPorts  by  the 
Democratic  Conservative  party  to  prevent 
any  one  from  voting  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 

HoTv  these  secret  instructions  were  car- 
ried out— Rifle  Clubs  and  "Kniglits  of 
tlie  Wliite  Camilia"  dragoonine  tlie 
Farislies — Mutilation,  maiming,  wliip- 
ping,  murdering  and  general  terror! 

It  was  a  villainous  conspiracy  and  lit- 
erally pursued  to  its  devilish  consequences. 
Clubs  were  formed  in  the  parishes.  The 
old  murderous  White-Leaguers  reorgan- 
ized as  rifle-clubs,  as  "  Knights  of  the 
White  Caraelia."  These,  mounted,  mask- 
ed, and  armed,  dragooned  the  parishes 
night  and  day,  and  ruled  in  terror  and 
blood,  amid  assassination  and  outrages 
and  violence  of  every  degree  and  kind — 
mutilation,  maiming,  and  whippings.  No 
age  or  sex  was  respected  —  none  was 
spared.  The  evidence,  multiplied  in  a 
hundred  shapes,  is  overwhelming,  and  is 
as  revolting  in  its  terrible  details  as  it  is 
conclusive  in  its  proofs.  The  historical 
sanguinary  violence  of  the  "  Franco- 
Spanish  blood" — the  sources  of  Louisi- 
ana's white  population  —  was  indulged 
without  restraint.  The  old  hellish  ter- 
rorism of  Murat,  Couthon  and  St.  Just, 
those  cruel  demons  of  the  French  revolu- 
tion of  1798,  were  revived  in  Louisiana 
in  all  its  frightful  horrors.  Indeed, 
throughout  the  canvass  prior  to  election 
day  murder  was  king — intimidation  rioted 
as  absolute  tyrant. 

The  election  held— How  the  true  result 
was  to  be  determined— The  State  Re- 
turning Board— Its  duties  under  the  liaw. 

The  election  was  held.  To  determine 
the  true  result  was  the  duty,  under  the 
laws  of  Louisiana,  of  the  State  canvass- 
ing board.  "The  statute  organizing  that 
board  declares  in  substance,"  as  stated  by 
Senator  Sherman,  "that  whenever  from 
any  poll  or  voting-place  there  shall  be  re- 
ceived by  the  board  the  statement  of  any 


supervisor  of  registration  or  comraissione" 
of  election,  confirmed  by  the  affidavits  of 
three  or  more  citizens,  of  any  riot,  tumult, 
acts  of  violence,  intimidation,  armed  dis- 
turbance, bribery,  or  corrupt  influences, 
which  prevent  or  tend  to  prevent,  a  fair, 
free  and  peaceable  vote  of  all  qualified 
electors  entitled  to  vote  at  such  polls,  the 
board  shall  proceed  to  investigate  the 
facts,  and  if  from  such  statement  and 
affidavits  they  shall  be  convinced  that  such 
causes  did  not  materially  interfere  with 
the  purity  and  freedom  of  such  election, 
or  prevent  a  sufficient  number  of  qualified 
voters  from  voting  to  materially  change 
the  result  of  the  election,  then  such  votes 
shall  be  canvassed  and  compiled ;  but  if 
they  are  not  thus  fully  convinced,  it  shall 
be  their  duty  to  examine  further  testi- 
mony in  regard  thereto,  and  to  that  end 
shall  have  power  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers  ;  and  if,  after  examination,  the 
board  shall  be  convinced  that  such  acts  of 
violence,  intimidation,  «&c.,  did  materially 
interfere  with  the  purity  and  freedom  of 
the  election  at  such  poll,  or  did  prevent  a 
sufficient  number  of  qualified  voters  from 
registering  or  voting  to  materially  change 
the  result  of  the  election,  then  the  board 
shall  not  canvass  or  compile  the  vote  of 
such  poll,  but  shall  exclude  it  from  their 
returns." 

Why  the  State  Returning  Board  waa 
created— Terrible  Ku-Klux  doings  of  1868 
—Democratic  intimidations  and  murders 
—The  Parishes  of  Orleans,  Caddo  and 
Saint  liandryand  others. 

What  compelled  the  State  to  create  this 
Canvassing  Board?  It  was  to  protect  the 
State  against  the  "  Ku-Klux  Klan,"  which 
by  a  series  of  sanguinary  atrocities  in  1868 
had  endeavored  to  intimidate  the  colored 
vote,  uproot  in  the  State  all  the  guaran- 
tees by  which  freedom  and  the  suffrage  is 
protected,  to  purge  the  State  of  the  "  stig- 
ma of  negro  equality,"  and  to  seize  the 
State  government.  Thus  one-half  of  the 
State — those  counties  in  which  colored 
majorities  prevailed — was,  just  preceding 
the  Presidential  campaign  of  1868,  "over- 
run by  violence,  midnight  raids,  secret 
murders,  and  open  riots.  Ku-Klux  no- 
tices were  scattered  everywhere  warning 
the  colored  men  not  to  vote." 

In  the  documents  accompanying  Presi- 
dent Grant's  special  message  to  the  Sen- 
ate, January  13,  1875,  communicating 
the  proofs  of  numberless  atrocities  at  Col- 
fax and  elsewhere  in  Louisiana,  is  a  com- 
munication from  Lieutenant  General  P. 
H.  Sheridan,  dated  New  Orleans,  Janu- 
ary 10,  1875,  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  in 
which  he  says: 


61 


Since  the  year  1866  nearly  3,500  persons,  a 
great  majority  of  whom  were  colored  men.  have 
been  killed  and  wounded  in  this  State.  In  1868 
the  ofiBcial  record  shows  that  1,884  were  killed 
and  wounded.  From  1868  to  the  present  time 
no  official  investigation  has  been  made,  and 
the  civil  authorities,  in  all  but  a  few  cases, 
have  been  unable  to  arrest,  convict  and  punish 
perpetrators.  Consequently  there  are  no  cor- 
rect records  to  bo  consulted  for  information. 
There  is  am*ple  evidence,  however,  to  show  that 
more  than  1,200  persons  have  been  killed  and 
wounded  during  this  time  on  account  of  their 
political  sen  timents.  Frightful  massacres  have 
occurred  in  the  parishes  of  Bossier,  Caddo. 
Catahoula,  Saint  Bernard.  Saint  Landry, 
Grant,  and  Orleans.  The  general  character 
of  the  massacres  in  the  above-named  par- 
ishes is  so  well  known  that  it  is  unnecessary  to 
describe  them.    *    *    * 

The  "glorious  Democratic  victory" 
wliich  ensued  in  1868  was  preceded  by  one 
of  the  most  terrible  massacres  on  record. 
The  Republicans,  colored  and  white,  for 
days  were  hunted  through  swamps  and 
fields,  and  over  two  hundred  were  killed 
and  wounded.  Thirteen  helpless  captives 
were  taken  from  the  jail  and  shot,  and  a 
pile  of  twenty- five  dead  bodies  was  found  in 
the  woods  buried.  Having  thus  conquered 
the  Republicans,  having  thus  murdered  or 
expelled  their  white  leaders,  the  masses 
were  captured  by  the  Ku-Klux,  marked 
with  badges  of  red  flannel,  enrolled  in 
clubs,  led  to  the  polls,  and  compelled  to 
vote  the  Democratic  ticket.  They  were 
then  given  certificates  of  the  fact. 

The  effect  of  this  devilish  system  of  ter- 
rorism is  shown  by  selecting  a  few  illus- 
trations out  of  the  frightful  mass,  as  de- 
veloped by  Congressional  investigation : 

In  the  parish  of  Orleans,  of  its  29,910 
voters  15,020  were  colored,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1868  the  parish  had  polled  13,973 
Republican  votes,  but  in  the  fall,  for  Gen- 
eral Grant,  only  1,178  were  polled,  a  fall- 
ing off  of  12,795  votes. 

In  the  parish  of  Caddo  there  were  2,987 
Republicans.  In  the  spring  of  1868  the 
Republicans  carried  the  parish;  in  the 
fall  it  gave  General  Grant  one  vote. 

In  the  parish  of  St.  Landry,  in  1868,  the 
Republicans  had  a  registered  majority  of 
1,071  votes.  In  the  spring  the  Republi- 
cans in  the  parish  had  polled  a  majority 
of  678  voles ;  in  the  fall  not  a  vote  was 
cast  for  General  Grant.  Seymour  and 
Blair  polled  the  full  vote  of  the  parish — 
4,787  votes. 

It  was  this  systematic,  organized  devil- 
try which  compelled  the  State  to  create 
the  Slate  Canvassing  Board  with  extraor- 
dinary powers  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the 
violent  conspiracy  of  the  White  League 
Democracy  to  wrest  the  local  government 
from  the  control  of  its  lawful  majority. 
Its  duties-  were  not  merely  to  receive  and 
count  any  and  all  returns  which  might  be 
forwarded  to  it.     Its  grand  duty  was  to 


sit  in  judgment  upon  all  such  returns,  to 
sift  and  purge  them  of  all  fraud,  and  par- 
ticularly of  fraud  perpetrated  through  or- 
ganized violence.  Its  legality  was  affirmed 
by  the  Electoral  Commission. 

"What    the  Ketui-ning  Board    did   in  ISTiG, 

How,  then,  in  November,  1876,  at  its 
canvass  of  the  vote  of  Louisiana  for  the 
appointment  of  Presidential  electors,  did 
this  board  execute  its  responsible  and 
perilous  duties?  Wisely,  justly,  equitably, 
or  the  contrary?     What  are  the  facts? 

Under  the  laws  of  Louisiana,  under  the 
express  commands  of  those  laws,  requir* 
ing  them  to  reject  the  votes  of  all  parishes 
in  which  intimidation  and  violence  had 
defeated  a  free  election,  the  board  re- 
jected the  votes  of  seventeen  parishes — 
all  of  them  Republican  parishes  by  large 
majorities,  but  in  which  the  Democracy 
claimed  10.000  majority.  Why  did  they 
reject  them  ? 

Why  they  did  it— Another  Democratic  se- 
cret circular — The  dreadful  work  in 
seventeen  rejected  Parishes. 

In  obedience  to  the  "confidential"  cir- 
cular of  the  Democratic  Central  Commit- 
tee of  the  State,  organized  clubs  of  masked 
men,  mounted  and  armed,  for  months 
prior  to  the  Presidential  election,  dra- 
gooned the  parishes  night  and  day,  "mark- 
ing their  course  by  the  whipping,  shoot- 
ing, wounding,  maiming,  mutilation  and 
murder  of  women,  children  and  defenceless 
men,  whose  homes  were  forcibly  entered 
while  they  slept,  and,  as  their  inmates  fled 
through  fear,  the  pistol,  the  rifle,  the 
knife,  and  the  rope  were  employed  to  do 
their  horrid  work."  For  this  "horrid 
work,"  through  systematic  intimidation, 
through  organized  murder  and  outrage, 
heavy  Republican  parishes  were  selected, 
like  East  and  West  Feliciana,  East  Batoa 
Rouge,  Morehouse,  Ouachita,  &c.,  all  of 
which  in  every  previous  election  had  voted 
heavily  Republican^  and  were  manifestly 
selected  because  of  their  contiguity  to 
Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  to  whose  "bor- 
der ruffians  the  appalling  villainy  of  the 
clubs  might  be  charged."  In  these  seven- 
teen parishes  on  election  day  there  was  a 
registered  Republican  majority  of  nearly 
7,000  votes;  but  the  returns  from  those 
parishes  to  the  returning  board  were-:  For 
Tilden,  21,123;  for  Hayes,  10,970— mak- 
ing a  Democratic  majority  of  10,153.  The 
Democracy  demanded  that  such  returns, 
with  fraud  stamped  upon  their  face,  with 
the  horrible  agencies  by  which  that  fraud 
had  been  perpetrated  notorious,  should 
be  counted  for  Tilden.  Of  course,  with 
the   certified  proofs  before  it,   the  board 


62 


demurred.  Under  the  command  of  the 
law  it  was  their  duty  to  investigate.  It 
did  investigate,  and  the  facts  developed 
were  revolting. 

The  Parish  of  Ouachita  as  an  example — 
The  Dinksrave  Murder— The  Pinkston 
Tragedy. 

Take  any  one  of  those  parishes  ;  take 
Ouachita,  for  example.  In  1868  it  gave 
a  Republican  majority  of  1,071 ;  in  1870 
it  gave  a  Republican  majority  of  798;  in 
1872  a  Republican  majority  of  798;  in 
1874  a  Republican  majority  of  927.  At 
the  Presidential  election  in  1876,  with  a 
registered  Republican  majority  of  1,040, 
a  Democratic  majority  ot  1,072  was  re- 
turned. Early  in  August  the  Vienna 
Sentinel,  a  leading  Democratic  organ  of 
the  parish,  boasted  that  in  Ouachita  the 
canvass  had  been  reduced  to  a  single 
ticket,  the  Democratic  nominees.  It 
boasted  that  the  Republicans  were  waver- 
ing, disheartened,  scared.  A  few  Repub- 
licans still  dared  to  keep  the  field,  but  it 
warned  them  that  they  were  well-known 
and  watched,  "and  that  the  halter  for 
their  necks  is  alr2a:'y  greased."  Bernard 
H.  Dinkgrave,  one  of  those  resolute  few, 
a  "white  man,  a  cuUivate^i  man,  and  a 
native  of  Louisiana,'"  and  "a-zairst whose 
character  no  one  has  breathed  a  word," 
except  that  he  was  a  Republican,  was 
subsequently  brutally  assassinated.  The 
details  of  the  murder  of  Henry  Pinksion, 
the  murder  of  his  babe  in  the  arms  of  his 
wife,  and  the  revolting  outrage  and  muti- 
lation of  the  person  of  his  wife  by  a  band 
of  masked  men,  shocked  even  the  human- 
ity of  the  Democratic  visitors  at  New  Or- 
leans. These  are  but  instances,  illustra- 
tions, of  a  multitude  of  like  cases  attested 
by  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses. ' '  Was  it  singu- 
lar, therefore,  that  in  these  parishes  the 
spirit  of  the  colored  man  should  be  bro- 
ken ;  that  he  was  "impressed"  with  the 
"  strength  "  of  the  Democracy  ;  that  hun- 
dreds in  their  terror  fled  from  the  polls, 
as  they  had  from  their  homes,  into  the 
swamps  and  fields. 

A  comparison  of  results  in  the  "bull- 
dozed" Parishes  with  the  Parishes  uofc 
"bull-dozed"— The  Returning  Board 
could  not  act  otherwise  than  they  did— 
Infamy  of  Tilden  and  his  Democracy. 

Thus  throughout  these  seventeen  par- 
ishes these  were  the  agencies,  thisihe  dia- 
bolical system  of  terrorism  through  organ- 
ized murder  and  outrage  employed  by  the 
chivalrous  "Knights  of  the  White  Came- 
lia,"  in  "  bull-dozing"  a  Democratic  ma- 
jority of  10,000  out  of  parishes  entitled  to 
a  Republican  majority  of  7,000 !     In  the 


other  forty  jsarishes  of  the  State,  where  in- 
timidation tailed,  a  registered  Republican 
majority  of  15,000  yielded  an  actual  Re- 
publican majority  of  6,000.  Under  a  fair 
or  free  election  in  the  unfortunate  "  bull- 
dozed "  parishes,  the  majority  in  Louisi- 
ana for  Hayes  and  Wheeler  wquld  have 
been  greatly  increased.  Under  the  laws 
of  the  State  the  returning  board  could  not 
restore  the  Republican  majority.  Al- 
though the  proofs  that  thousands  of  Re- 
publican voters  were  disfranchished 
through  intimidation  were  as  overwhelm- 
ing as  their  details  were  shocking  and  dis- 
graceful to  the  State  and  nation,  although 
simple  justice  demanded  the  restoration 
of  the  Republican  vote,  yet  the  board  was 
powerless  to  remedy  the  great  wrong  in 
that  way.  It  could  only  reject  the  "  bull- 
dozed "  returns.  Could  it  have  rendered 
real  justice  by  the  restoration  of  the  legal 
vote  which  would  have  been  polled  in 
these  parishes  in  the  absence  of  intimida- 
tion, Hayes  and  Wheeler's  majority  in  the 
State  would  have  been  between  10,000 
and  15,000  votes.  No  legal  poll,  such  as 
is  contemplated  by  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  would  have  depressed  that  ma- 
jority. 

What,  then  in  the  light  of  the  facts,  is 
the  attitude  of  Tilden  and  the  Democracy 
in  demanding  the  Presidency  upon  the 
votes  of  Louisiana?  Is  it  not  simply  in- 
famous ? 


PART  V. 

The  Hale  aineudment  to  the 
one'isiclecl  Potter  resolution— 
The  Florida  frauds— The  Ore- 
gon corruption  and  toribery— 
The  liOuisiana  bull-dozing 
and  frauds— The  South  Caro- 
lina bribery  and  corruption— 
The '  ^Tlississippi  shot-gun 
frauds. 

The  following  is  the  amendment  in- 
tended to  be  proposed  by  Mr.  Hale  to  the 
Potter  resolution  appointing  an  investi- 
gating committee: 

Th3  Florida  Frauds. 

Resolved,  That  the  select  committee  to  whom 
this  House  has  committed  the  investigation  of 
certain  matters  aflfectiog,  as  is  alleged,  the  legal 
title  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
the  high  office  which  ho,  now  holds,  be,  and  is 
hereby,  instructed,  in  the  course  of  its  investi- 
gations, to  fully  inquire  into  all  the  facts  con- 
nected with  the  election  in  the  State  of  Florida 
in  November,  1876,  and  especially  into  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  transmission  and  re- 
ceiving of  certain  telegraphic  dispatches  sent 
in  said  year  between  Tallahassee,  in  said  State, 
and  New  York  city,  viz: 


63 


"Tallahassee,  November  9, 1873. 
"A.  S.  Hewitt,  New  York: 

"Comply  if  possible  with  my  telegram. 

"Geo.  p.  Raery." 

Also  the  following: 

"Tallahassee.  December  1, 1876. 
"W.  T,  Pelton,  New  York: 

"Answer  Mac's  dispatch  immediately,  or  we 
will  be  embarrassed  at  a  critical  time. 

"Wilkinson  Call." 

Also  the  following: 

"Tallahassee,  December  4, 1876. 
"W.  T.  Pelton:  .  „     , 

"Things  culminating  here.  Answer  Mac's 
dispatch  to-day.  W.  Call." 

And  aJso  the  facts  connected  with  all  tele- 
graphic dispatches  between  one  John  F.  Coyle 
and  said  Pelton,  under  the  latter's  real  or  ficti- 
tious name,  and  with  any  and  all  demands  for 
money  on  or  about  Decembar  1, 1876,  from  said 
Tallahassee,  on  said  Pelton,  or  said  Hewitt,  or 
with  any  attempt  to  corrupt  or  bribe  any  official 
of  the  State  of  Florida  by  any  person  acting  for 
said  Pelton,  or  in  the  interest  of  Samuel  J.  Til- 
den  as  a  presidential  candidate. 

Also  to  investigate  the  charges  of  intimida- 
tion at  Lake  City,  in  Columbia  county,  where 
Joel  Niblack  and  other  white  men,  put 
ropes  around  the  necks  of  colored  men,  and  pro- 
posed to  hang  them,  but  released  them  on  their 
promise  to  join  a  Democratic  club  and  vote  for 
Samuel  J.  Tilden. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Jackson 
county,  where  the  ballot-boxes  were  kept  out 
the  sight  of  voters,  who  voted  through  open- 
ings or  holes  six  feet  above  the  ground,  and 
where  many  more  Republican  votes  were  thus 
given  into  the  hands  of  the  Democratic  in- 
spectors than  were  counted  or  returned  by 
them. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Waldo  pre- 
cinct, in  Alachua  county,  where  the  passen- 
gers on  an  emigrant  train,  passing  through  on 
the  day  of  election,  were  allowed  to  vote. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Manatee 
county,  returning  235  majority  for  the  Tilden 
electors,  where  there  were  no  county  officers, 
no  registration,  no  notice  of  the  election,  and 
where  the  Republican  party,  therefore,  did  not 
vote. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  the  third  pre- 
cinct of  Key  West,  giving  342  Democratic  ma- 
jority, where  the  Democratic  inspector  carried 
the  ballot-box  home,  and  pretended  to  count 
the  ballots  on  the  next  day,  outside  of  the  pre- 
cinct and  contrary  to  law. 

Also  the  facts  of  the  election  in  Hamilton, 
where  the  election  officers  exercised  no  control 
over  the  ballot-box.  but  left  it  in  unauthorized 
hands  that  it  might  be  tampered  with. 

Also  the  reasons  why  the  Attorney  General  of 
the  State,  William  Archer  Cocke,  as  a  member 
of  the  Canvassing  Board,  officially  advised  the 
board,  and  himself  voted,  to  exclude  the  Ham- 
ilton county  and  Key  West  precinct  returns, 
thereby  giving,  in  any  event,  over  500  majority 
to  the  Republican  electoral  ticket,  and  after- 
wards protested  against  the  result  which  he  had 
voted  for,  and  whether  or  not  said  Cocke  was 

afterward  rewarded  for  such  protest  by  being 

made  a  State  judge. 

The  Oregon  Bribery  and  Corruption. 

And  that  said  committee  is  further  instructed 
and  directed  to  investigate  into  all  the  facts 
connected  with  an  alleged  attempt  to  secure  one 
electoral  vote  in  the  State  of  Oregon  for  Samuel 
J.  Tilden  for  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Thomas  A.  Hendricks  for  Vice  President,  by 
unlawfully  setting  up  the  election  of  E.  A.  Cro- 
nin  as  one  of  sueh  presidential  electors  elected 
from  the  State  of  Oregon  on  the  7th  of  Novem- 
ber, the  candidates  for  the  presidential  electors 
on  the  two  tickets  being  as  follows : 


On  the  Republican  ticket:  W.  C.  Odell,  J.  C. 
Cartwright,  and  John  W.  Watts. 

On  the  Democratic  ticket:  E.  A.  Cronin,  W. 
A.  Laswell,  and  Henry  Klippel. 

The  votes  received  by  each  candidate  as  shown 
by  the  official  vote  as  canvassed,  declared,  and 
certified  to  by  the  Secretary  of  State  under  the 
seal  of  the  State— the  Secretary  being,  under  the 
laws  of  Oregon,  sole  canvassing  officer,  as  will 
be  shown  hereafter— being  as  follows : 

W.  K.  Odell  received '. 15,206  votes. 

John  C.  Cartwright  received 15,214     '* 

John  W.  Watts  received 15,206     " 

E.  A.  Cronin  received 14,157     " 

W.  B.  Laswell  received 14,149     " 

Henry  Klippel  received , 14,136     " 

And  by  the  unlawful  attempt  to  bribe  one  of 
said  legally  elected  electors  to  recognize  said 
Cronin  as  an  elector  for  President  and  Vice- 
President,  in  order  that  one  of  the  electoral 
votes  of  said  State  might  be  cast  for  said  Sam- 
uel J.  Tilden  as  President  and  for  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks  as  Vice  President;  and  especially 
to  examine  and  inquire  into  all  the  facts  re- 
lating to  the  sending  of  money  from  New  York 
to  some  place  in  said  Oregon  for  the  purposes 
of  sueh  bribery,  the  parties  sending  and  receiv- 
ing the  same,  and  their  relations  to  and  agency 
for  said  Tilden,  and  more  particularly  to  inves- 
tigate into  all  the  circumstances  attending  the 
transmission  of  the  followingtelegraphic  dis- 
patches : 

"  Portland,  Oregon,  November  14, 1876. 
"  Gov.  L.  F.  Grover  : 
"  Come  down  to-morrow  if  possible. 

"  W.  H.  Effingbk, 
"  A.  Noltner, 
"  C.  P.  Bellinger." 
"  Portland,  November  16, 1876. 
"  To  Gov.  Grover,  Salem  : 

"  We  want  to  see  you  particularly  on  account 
of  dispatches  from  the  East. 

"  William  Strong, 
"  C.  P.  Bellinger, 
"  S.  H.  Reed, 
"  W.  W.  Thayer, 
"  C.  E.  Bronaugh." 
Also  the  following  cypher  dispatch  sent  from 
Portland,  Oregon,  on  the  28th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1876,  to  New  York  city : 

Portland,  November  28, 1876. 
"  To  W.  T.  Pelton.  No.  15  Gramercy  Park,  New 
York: 

"By  vizier  association  innocuous  to  negli- 
gence cunning  minutely  previously  readmit  dol- 
tish to  purchase  afar  act  with  cunning  afar 
sacristy  unweighed  afar  pointer  tigress  cattle 
superannuated  syllabus  dilatoriness  misappre- 
hension contraband  Kountz  bisulcuous  top 
usher  spiniferous  answer. 

J.  H.  N.  Patrick. 
"  I  fully  endorse  this. 

"James  K.  Kelly." 
Of  which,  when  the  key  was  discovered,  the 
following  was  found  to  be  the  true  intent  and 
meaning : 

"  Portland.  November  28, 1876. 
"  To  W.  T.  Pelton,  No.  15  Gramercy  Park,  New 
York: 

"Certificate  will  be  issued  to  one  Democrat. 
Must  purchase  a  Republican  elector  to  recog- 
nize and  act  with  Democrats  and  secure  the 
vote  and  prevent  trouble.  Deposit  $10,000  to 
my  credit  with  Kountz  Brothers,  Wall  street. 
Answer.  J.  H.  N.  Patrick. 

"  I  fully  endorse  this. 

"James  K.  Kelly." 
Also  the  following : 

"  New  York,  November  25, 1876. 
"  A.  Bush,  Salem: 
"  Use  all  means  to  prevent  certificate.    Very 
1  important.  "  C.  E.  Tilton." 


64 


Abo  the  following:        ,,  ^         ,      ^  ,^^^ 
"  D«o«mbar  1. 1876. 
"  To  Hon.  Sam.  J.  Tilden.  No.  15  Gramercf 

Park.  New  York. 

"I  Bliall  decide  every  poitit  in  the  cafie  of 
po8*-oflBoo  elector  in  Ikvor  of  the  highest  Dem- 
oeratio  ©lector,  and  rrant  certifioate  accord - 
iugly  on  niomins  of  6th  instant.    CunMential. 

"GOVEHNOR." 

Also  the  following  : 

*'  San  Francibco.  December  5. 
'  Ladd  &  Bush,  Salem : 
*•  Funde  from  New  York  will  be  deposited  to 

four  credit  here  to-morrow  when  bank  opens, 
know  it.    Act  accordingly.    Answe-. 

"W.  C.  QinswoLD." 

Also  the  following,  six  days  before  the  fore- 
going : 

•'  New  York.  November  29, 1876. 
"  To  J.  H.  N.  Patriok.  Portland,  Oreoron  : 

"  Mora.!  hasty  sideral  vizier  gabble  cramp  by 
hemistic  wclcomo  licentiate  mu«koete  compas- 
sion neglootful  recoverable  hathouse  live  inno- 
vator brackish  association  dime  afar  idolaior 
aeasion  hemiptic  mitre." 

[No  signatoie.] 

Of  which  the  interpretation  is  as  follows : 

"  Nkw  York.  November  29, 1876. 
*'To  J.  H.  N.  Patrick,  Portland,  Oregon  : 

"No.  IIow  soon  will  Governor  decide  eer- 
tifioate?  If  you  mtike  obligatioQ  oo^itingent 
on  the  result  in  March,  it  can  be  done,  and 
slightly  if  necessary." 

[No  Sigaature.] 

Also  the  foUowing,  one  day  la'.er : 

"Portland,  November  30, 1876. 
"  To  W.  T.  Pelton,  No.  loGramercy  Park,  New 

York: 

"Governor  all  right  without  reward.  Will 
issue  certificate  Tuesday.  This  is  a  secret. 
Republicans  threaten  if  certificate  issued  to  ig- 
nore Democratic  claims  and  fill  vacancy,  and 
thus  defeat  action  of  Governor.  Oae  elector 
must  be  paid  to  recognize  Democrat  to  secure 
majority.  Have  employed  three  lawyers.  Ed- 
itor of  only  Republican  paper  as  one  lawyer, 
fee  S3.000.  Will  take  S5.000  for  Republican 
elector ;  must  raise  money :  can't  make  fee  con- 
tingent. Sail  Saturday.  Kelly  and  Bellinger 
will  act,  Commttnicate  with  them.  Must  act 
promptly." 

[No  Signature.] 

Also  the  following : 

"Sax  Francisco,  December  5, 1876. 
*'To  Kountse  Bros.,  No.  12  Wall  street.  New 

York: 

"Has  my  account  credit  by  any  funds  lately? 
How  much? 

"J.  H.  N.  Patrick." 

Also  the  following : 

"New  York,  December  6. 
**  J,  N.  H.  Patrick,  San  Francisco  : 

"Davis  deposited  eight  thousand  -dollars  De- 
cember first.  "Kountze  Bros." 

Also  the  following : 

"San  Francisco,  December  6, 
"  To  James  K.  Kelly  : 

"  The  eight  deposited  as  directed  this  morn- 
ing. Let  no  technicality  prevent  winning.  Use 
your  discretion."  [No  signature,] 

And  the  following; 

"  New  York,  December  6. 
"Hon.  Jas.  K.Kelly: 

"  !■<  your  matter  certain  ?  There  must  be  no 
mistake.  All  depends  on  you.  Piace  no  reli- 
ance on  any  f<vorable  report  from  three  south- 
ward.   Sonetter.    Answer  quick." 

[No  signature.] 


Also  the  following: 

*•  December  6. 1876. 
"  To  Col.W.  T.  P«lton,  15  Gramorcy  l\»rk,  N.Y  : 

"  Gkwry  to  God  1'  Hold  on  to  the  one  vote  in 
Oregon!  I  have  one  hundred  thousAnd  men  to 
back  it  up!  "CousE." 

And  said  committee  is  further  directed  to 
inquire  into  and  bring  to  light,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  posssble.  the  entire  correspondence  and  con- 
spiracy referred  to  in  the  above  telegraphic 
dispatches,  and  to  ascertain  what  were  the  re- 
Utions  existing  between  any  of  the  parties 
sending  or  receiving  said  dispatches  and  W.  T. 
Pelton,  of  Now  York,  and  also  what  relations 
existed  be'ween  said  W.  T.  Pelton  and  Samuel 
J.  Tilden,  of  New  York. 

The  liouisliiua  l>ull-<lo«;iug  and  fraud**. 

And  sa,id  committee  is  further  instructed  and 
directed  to  make  inquiry  into  all  the  circum- 
stances and  facts  attending  and  connected  with 
the  alleged  attempts  to  violently  and  fraudu- 
lently secure  the  electoral  vote  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  President 
aind  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  as  Vice  President  of 
the  United  States,  by  organizing  armed  bands 
of  men,  who  overran  certain  parishes  in  said 
State,  particularly  the  parishes  of  Morehouse, 
Ouachita.  East  Baton  Rouge.  East  Feliciana, 
and  West  Feliciana,  burc'ng  the  houses  of  col- 
ored Republicans,  murd'  ag  the  inmates  or 
driving  them  from  their  jomes.  and  bi^  these 
and  other  methods  of  iutimidati  m  establish- 
ing a  reign  of  terror  such  as  prevented  any  ap- 
proach to  a  fair  expression  of  the  legal  votes  of 
such  parishes,  and  to  make  a  full  report  upon 
the  same;  and  also  upon  ajiy  attempt  made  to 
corrupt  or  bribe  any  presidential  elector  of  said 
State,  or  any  of  the  officials  of  the  State,  whose 
legal  duty  it  was,  by  the  laws  of  said  State,  to 
count  or  declare  the  vote  of  said  8tate,  to 
wrong%lly  and  unlawfully  count  and  declare 
said  vote  for  the  electors  representing  said 
Samuel  J.  Tilden  and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks. 

The  S  nxth   Carolina  bribery  and    corrup- 
tion. 

And  said  committee  is  further  instructed  and 
directed  to  investigate  all  the  facts  and  circum- 
stances connected  with  an  allege!  attempt  to 
bribe  a,iid  corrupt  any  Presideatiil  etector  of 
the  S'ate  of  South  Carolina,  so  that  a  part  or 
all  of  the  electoral  vote  of  said  State  should  be 
wrongfully  cast  for  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  Presi- 
dent aid  Thomas  A.  Hendricks  as  Vice  Presi- 
nent. 

The  Mi»sissii>iJt  shot-g-an  frauds;. 

And  said  committee  is  further  instructed  and 
directed  to  make  full  inquiry  and  iuve.'stigation 
into  all  the  methods  of  violence,  intimidation, 
and  fraud  by  which  the  voters  of  the  State  of 
Mississippi  are  alleged  to  have  been  prevented 
from  casting  their  votes  freely  and  peaceably 
for  the  cindidates  of  their  choice  in  the  Presi- 
dential election  of  November,  1876,  and  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  transformation  in  said 
State  of  a  Republican  majority  of  40,000  to  a 
Democratic  majority  nearly  as  large,  and  to 
extend  such  inquiries  into  all  other  States 
where  such  intimidation,  violence,  and  fraud 
are  alleged  to  have  influenced  the  result  in 
said  Presidential  election ;  and,  in  investigat- 
ing into  f^uch  alleged  violence,  intimidation, 
and  fraud  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  said  com- 
mittee is  directed  to  examine  especially  into 
the  facts  of  the  population,  colored  and  white, 
in  the  Sixth  Congressional  district  in  said  Scate 
of  Mississippi,  and  the  registration  for  theyear 
1876,  when  it  is  alleged  that  m«re  than  five 
thousand  colored  uien  were  improperly  refused 
registration,  and  also  to  inquire  into  the  facts 
wbich  led  to  the  radical  change  in  the  colored 
vote  in  said  district,  after  such  alleged  intimi- 


65 


dation  and  fraud  were  reported  to  to  prevent 
colored  voters  from  casting  their  ballots  freely 
and  according  to  their  wishes,  some  of  which 
facts  are  set  forth  in  the  following  statement: 

REGISTRATION  STATISTICS.  SIXTH  DIS- 
TRICT OF  MISSISSIPPI.  1876. 


Tunica  County 

Coahoma  County..., 

Bolivar  County 

Washington  County 
Issaquena  County... 

Sharkey  County 

Warren  County 

Claiborne  County... 
Jefferson  County.... 

Adams  County , 

Wilkinson  County... 


Whites 

Blacks. 

*300 

1,500 

735 

2,003 

85C 

2,850 

1,264 

4,648 

245 

1,402 

*30C 

700 

•     2,019 

1,689 

917 

1,279 

786 

2,154 

964 

3.213 

754 

2,501 

*Estimated. 

ELECTION  STATISTICS  IN  FIVE  COUN- 
TIES. 


_^ 

rt 

1869. 

§11 

^^£ 

£w 

a;« 

Washington  County- 

Total  vote  polled, 

2,670 

2  757 

4,496 

Xepublican  vote 

2.530 

2.562 

1,591 

Democratic  vote 

140 

195 

*2,905 

Jefferson  County- 

Total  vote  polled 

2,334 

2,152 

1,965 

Republican  vote 

1,919 

1.698 

420 

Democratic  vote 

415 

454 

*1545 

Claiborne  County- 

Total  vote  polled 

2,548 

2,724 

1.924 

Republican  vote 

2,091 

2,238 

426 

Democratic  vote- 

457 

484 

*1,498 

Warren  County- 

Total  vote  polled 

5,638 

6,014 

2.658 

Republican  vote 

4.560 

4,729 

615 

Democratic  vote 

1.078 

1,285 

*2,043 

''As  returned. 

PAET  VI. 

riie  Page  resolution  condemn- 
ing Tilden's  attempt  to  steal 
tlie  Oregon  Vote  and  denounc- 
ing the  infamy  of  Cronin  is  de- 
feated by  the  Democrats  -Only 
two  decent  men  in  all  Israel. 

March,  3,  1877,  Horace  F.  Page,  of 
|alifornia,  Republican,  moved  to  suspend 
le  rules  and  pass  the  following: 
iBesoloed,  That  this  House  condemns  the  re- 
mt  attempt  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  people  of 
regon  by  the  refusal  of  the  Governor  of  that 
fate  to  certify  the  election  of  an  elector  having 

lajority  of  the  legal  votes  fairly  cast  and  is- 


suing a  commission  to  a  defeated  candidate. 
And  the  House  also  condemns  and  denounces 
the  corrupt  use  of  money  to  aid  in  this  outrage, 
and  especially  the  payment  of  $3,000  to  one 
Cronin.  the  defeated  elector,  for  his  part  in  the 
infamous  transaction. 

The  Vote  by  ^Vhich  Cronin  was  Endorsed. 

The  above  resolution  was  disagreed  to  ; 
yeas  87,  (all  Republicans,  save  two  Dem- 
ocrats,) nays  90,  (all  Democrats;)  not 
voting  113,  (22  Republicans  and  91  Dem- 
ocrats,) as  follows: 

Yeas— Messrs.  Adams.  G.  A.  Bagley,  Ballou, 
Banks,  Belford,  Blair,  Bradley.  W.  R.  Brown. 
H.  C.  Burchard,  Burleigh,  Buttz,  Cannon.Cason, 
Caswell,  Chittenden,  Conger,  Crapo,  Crounse, 
DanfOrd.  Davy,  Donison,Dannell,  Eames,  J.L. 
Evans,  Flye,  Fort,  Foster,  Fre9man,  Frye,  Har- 
alson. Hathorn,  Henderson,  Hubbell.  Hunter, 
Hurlbut,  Hyman.  Joyce,  Kasson,  Kelley,  Kim- 
ball, Lapham,  Lawrence,  Leavenworth,  Le 
Moyne,  Lynch,  Lynde,  Magoon,  MacDougall, 
McCrary.  McDill,  Miller.  Monroe,  Norton,  Oli- 
ver, O'Neill,  Packer,  Page,  W.  A.  Phillips, 
Pierce.  Piaisted,  Piatt,  Pratt,  Rainey,  M.  S. 
Robinson.S.  Ross,  Rusk.  Sampson,  Seelye.  Sin- 
nickson,  bmalls.  A.  H.  Smith,  Stowell,  Strait, 
Thornburjrh.  M.  I.  Townsend,  W.  Townsend, 
Tufts,  A.  S.  Wallace,  J.  W.  Wallace,  G.  W. 
Welis,  J.  D.  White.  Willard.  A.  Williams,  W. 
B.  Williams,  J.  Wilson.  A.  Wood,  jr.,  Wood- 
worth— 87. 

Nays— Messrs.  Abbott,  Ainsworth,  Ashe,  At- 
kins, J.  II.  Bagley,  j):,Beebe,  Blackburn,  Boone, 
Bradford,  Bright,  Buckner,  W.  P.  Cakhoell, 
Candler,  Ganlfield,  J.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B.  Clark, jr., 
Glymer,  Collins,  Culberson,  J.  J.  Davis,  Durham, 
Felton,  Finley,  Forney,  Franklin,  Goode,  Gunter, 
Hardenbergh,  J.  T.  Harris,  Hartzell,  Hatcher, 
A.  S.  Hewitt,  Holman,  House,  A.  Humphreiifi, 
Hanton,  Hard,  T.  L.  Jones,  Knott,  Lamar,  F. 
Landers,  G.  M.  Landers,  McMahon,  Meide, 
Mills,  Money,  Morrison,  Mutchler,  New, 
O'Brien,  Payne,  Phelps,  J.  F.  Philips,  Pop- 
pleton,  Reagan,  J.  B.  Eeilly,  A.  V.  Rice,  Rid- 
dle, W.  M.  Robins,  Sayler,  Scales,  Schleicher, 
Sheakley,  Slemons,  W.  E.  Smith,  Southard, 
Sparks,  Springer,  Sfenger,  W.  H.  Stone,  J.  K. 
Tarbox,  Terry,  Thomas,  C.  P.  Thompson, 
Throckmorton,  Tucker,  Tiirney,  J.  L.  Vance, 
R.  B.  Vance,  Waddell,  Walling,  Warner,  E. 
Wells,  Whitehouse,  Wigginton,  Wike,  A.  S. 
Williams,  J.  iV.  Williams,  B.  Wilson,  Yeates, 
Young— %. 

Not  Voting — Messrs.  Anderson,  Bagby,  J. 
H.  Baker,  W.  H.  B  iker.  Banning,  Bass,  .S'.  N. 
Bell,  Bland,  Bliss,  Blount,  J.  Y,  Brown,  S.  D. 
Burch  ird,  Cabell,  J.  H.  Caldwell,  A.  Campbell, 
Carr,  Gate,  Chopin,  Cochrane,  Cook,  Cowan,  S. 
S.  Cox,  Cutler,  Darrall.  De  Bolt,  Dibrell,  Dob- 
bins. Douglas.  Durand,  Eden,  Egbert,  Ellis, 
Faulkner,  D.  D.  Field,  Fuller,  Garfield,  Cause, 
Gibson,  Glover,  Goodin,  Hale.  A.  H.  Hamilton, 
R.  Hamilton,  Hancock,  B.  W.  Harris.  H.  R. 
Harris,  Harrison,  Hartridge,  Haymond,C.  Hays, 
Hendee.  Henkle,  G.  W.  Hewitt,  Hill,  Hoar. 
Hoge,  Hooker,  Hopkins,  Hoskins,  Jenks,  F. 
Jones,  Kehr,  King,  Lane,  Levy,  Lewis,  Lord, 
LxMrell,  Mickey,  Maish,  McFarland,  H.  B. 
Metcalfe,  MiUiken,  Morgan,  Nash,  L.  T.  Neal, 
Odell,  Piper,  Potter,  Powell,  Purman,  Rea,  J. 
Reilly,  J.  Robbins,  Roberts,  M.  Ross,  Savage, 
Schumaker,  Singleton,  Stanton,  Stephens,  Steven- 
son, Swann,  Teese,  Van  Vorhes,  Wait,  Waldron, 
a  C.  B.  Walker,  G.  C.  Walker,  Walsh,  E.  Ward, 
Warren,  Watterson,  Wheeler.  Whiting,  Whif- 
thorne,  C.  G.  Williams,  J.  Williams,  B.  A.  Wil- 
lis, WihUre,  F.  Wood,  Woodburn— 113. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 

,,, .  ^ , ,        University  of  California  Library  ^,^^  ^ 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(510)642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals    and    recharges    may    be    made    4    days 

prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


J  UN  06  1935 


).000  (4/94) 


';o/o'oU°r.iai^ 


IJn.-S*"-^'"^^  I-ibrary 


^^ 

M180819 

\ '  ~  ' 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 

